


RE: Pair

by torinokomachi



Series: RE: Series [1]
Category: Inazuma Eleven
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Families of Choice, Fix-It of Sorts, Football | Soccer, Friendship, Gen, Major Original Character(s), POV Third Person Limited, Panic Attacks, Pyrophobia, Slight Canon Divergence, Team Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-10-11 06:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17442041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torinokomachi/pseuds/torinokomachi
Summary: “Hmm... you want me to tell you the story of how I got here? Well… I took a hit that was meant for my brother… no? You want me to tell you the story of my life instead for the “How I got here” part? All the way from my childhood? Alright, I guess I can make an exception. Since... well. You're just like me.”It starts with a fire, followed by departure with a promise of return. Bonds may be broken, but they can be repaired.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been contemplating about whether I should post this or not before I decided that you only lived once and I should post it.  
> This was a rewrite of a very old Inazuma Eleven OC Fic I wrote and... it's an embarrassing start, to say the least.  
> But I'm attached to the hip with everything about it so I decided to rewrite it.  
> This is the first of two chapters, see you there!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been contemplating about whether I should post this or not before I decided that you only lived once and I should post it.  
> This was a rewrite of a very old Inazuma Eleven OC Fic I wrote and... it's an embarrassing start, to say the least.  
> But I'm attached to the hip with everything about it so I decided to rewrite it.  
> This is the first of two chapters, see you there!  
> (This chapter has been edited as of 19 April 2019)

 

The whistle is blown as a signal that the match, a soccer match, has started.

 

In the soccer field, eleven people stood in both sides. One wore an uniform of black and tints of red with them. The other wore blue and white with a lightning insignia on it.

 

On the bench of the field stood one old man wearing a magenta suit, face mostly covered in a gray beard. On the other side, there are seven players, accompanied with four more girls, the managers.

 

Accompanying them are two older men, one who wore a red cap and glasses to hide his eyes, his facial structure shows sign of aging, while the other looked younger. And with the old man, is a young soccer player whose uniform stood out for being different from the teams that are about to fight against each other.

 

As the match starts, two of the players, bearing ivory locks, bearing similar facial features, one was a boy who wore glasses, and the other, a girl whose had some strands in her hair that are braided and flowed down like a waterfall, observed.

 

***

 

It was not an easy moment for the team in blue, Inazuma Japan as their opponents had overcome them in many ways. And the first half ends with the opponents leading.

 

The pair said nothing, only observe and keep their opinions in silence as they formulate a plan that would lead the team to victory.

 

***

 

“They're way  _too_  specialized.”

 

The boy of the pair spoke up when the match reached half-time and they rested for the second half.

 

A google wearing boy with tied, braided long hair pondered at his statement. “What do you mean?”

 

“Just as I said, Kidou. They are good at what they do with their intended position, but that's it.”

 

“That doesn't help much.” The goal keeper of the team, who had brown hair that matched his eyes along with an orange headband, commented.

 

“Do you mean over-specialization?” A red haired boy with green eyes suggested while the other players are thinking of what the the boy meant.

 

“You are correct, Hiroto.” One of the managers spoke up. Her brown hair flowed with the wind as she walked towards the players. “They are too specialized in the position they are assigned with that if they are to come across a situation in a field that would force them to adapt in a different way, they will fail to adapt.”

 

“What do you suggest?” A boy with spiky ashen blonde hair implored.

 

“...A change of positions.” The one to suggest this was the female among the pair with shared ivory hair.

 

“If we are to fight against over-specialized members, then we would have to switch some of the players around to catch them off guard. They might have been trained with only the data they have of our Football Frontier International matches in mind.” She explained, then turned her gaze to a spiky grey haired boy with gray eyes.

 

“Fubuki can play and work in both offense and defense well,” she then pointed her finger to a long green haired ponytail-ed boy, one of his eyes are framed behind the green locks. “Kazemaru played in every position sans goalkeeper in the past,” Then she pointed to a pink haired boy whose skin tone is darker, a sign of being under the sun for so long. “Tsunami-san had a lot of shoot-type Hissatsu's that he could have also applied being a Forward instead of a Defender,” And lastly, she pointed towards the second goalkeeper of the team, a boy with yellow-brown hair. “Tachimukai was midfielder before he decided to become a goalkeeper.”

 

She then concluded. “In short, our team has an adaptability that Garshield's chosen players don't have.”

 

The boy inputted after her. “That's why we thought that for the second half, we're going to switch the team's position around.” He turned to the brown haired manager. “But from the looks of it... you and Endou's grandfather also had the same idea in mind, right? Natsumi-san?”

 

Natsumi nodded. “And so for the second half...”

 

Time ticks on as she discussed of their plans for the next half.

 

“...Does that sound alright, Akito-kun? Tsubaki-san?” Natsumi asked the two.

 

“That's about the same as what Nii-san and I thought. Though, we had the idea of putting Tsunami-san in as forward and Tachimukai in defense.” The girl, Tsubaki, answered.

 

The boy, Akito, added. “Just to give everyone a fair chance in the match.”

 

Kidou smiled. “That's just like the two of you twins.”

 

The brown-haired goal keeper then shouts, declaring. “Alright, we're going to win this!”

 

“Yeah!”

 

***

 

_Fifteen minutes._

 

The opposing team started their kick off and advanced towards Inazuma Japan.

 

_Fourteen minutes, twenty seven seconds._

 

A mohawk haired boy stopped their advances and passed the soccer ball to Gouenji.

 

_Thirteen minutes, ten seconds._

 

Gouenji swiftly avoided the oncoming onslaught of his opponents with his speed.

 

_Twelve minutes. Forty five seconds._

 

Passes were made between the members of Inazuma Japan with the team keeping a steady rhythm of passes but a tag team from the opposing team stole Inazuma Japan's possession of the soccer ball.

 

_Twelve minutes. Twenty seconds._

 

A tanned, large player stopped that as he jumped, the earth moved and bended to his whim. “The Mountain!”

 

_Twelve minutes. Fifteen seconds._

 

The soccer ball is back in their possession and the large player made a pass. “Toramaru-kun!”

 

The black haired boy answered by receiving the ball, calling out. “Gouenji-san!”

 

“Got it!” Said player affirmed.

 

The black haired boy prepared himself in a stance, a tiger appeared behing him.  **“Tiger-”**

 

He kicked the ball upwards, followed by Gouenji calling onto a spirit made of fire energy as he kicked the ball overhead.  **“Storm!”**

 

_Ten minutes. Fifty seconds._

 

The shoot makes it into the goal despite the opposing goalkeeper doing their best to defend it.

 

The opposing team dismiss it as a fluke and started their counter attack against their foe.

 

_Eight minutes._

 

Inazuma Japan once more took possession of the soccer ball after outmaneuvering their foes. Fubuki and Kazemaru went forward. Kazemaru ran with a great speed, the wind surrounds him as Fubuki spun the soccer ball.

 

“ **The Hurricane!”**

 

The soccer ball reached Kazemaru, who kicked the now crystalized ball towards the goal, the score between the two team's are now even.

 

_Seven minutes. Fifty seconds._

 

Their opponents are growing desperate to take back their lead against Inazuma Japan as they advanced.

 

_Six minutes. Thirty three seconds._

 

The opponents attempt to score is yet again foiled as a player with purple-gray hair blocks it and called upon a dimensional rift that blocked the shoot.  **“Shinkuuma! V2!”**

 

_Six minutes. Eleven seconds._

 

The player makes a pass to Gouenji, who now moved with Toramaru and Hiroto. Toramaru and Hiroto jumped as Gouenji makes a kick.

 

“ **Grand Fire! G2!”**

 

The flames grow as it advanced towards the goal post. Several players from the opposing team went back to their side of the field to stop the shoot but to no avail, as the shoot made it into the goal.

 

_Five minutes._

 

The two team's are left on a stalemate as they try to prevent the other from scoring another goal.

 

_Four minutes._

 

_Three minutes._

 

_Two minutes._

 

_One minute._

 

_**Zero.** _

 

The whistle blew for Inazuma Japan's victory.

 

***

 

Garshield Bayhan has failed.

 

That alone, they can gather.

 

Garshield is too proud of his program he failed to account in the adaptability of his players.

 

No matter.

 

Garshield may have failed their leader, but they still have a chance in attaining one of their targets.

 

“Maeda Akito, you shall be of great use for the leader.”

 

***

 

Tsubaki felt a horrible feeling of ill intent aimed at their way as Inazuma Japan watched the plane carry away Garshield and his chosen players.

 

Garshield is now officially locked behind the bars for good.

 

She turned around, surveying her surroundings when she felt that horrible feeling and saw a blur moving towards-

 

No no no! No one is hurting her brother!

 

***

 

Akito was caught off guard when his sister suddenly ran towards him and at the next moment, he saw her being knocked all the way to the side, her form now limp on the ground.

 

“Not my intended target... but Maeda Tsubaki will suffice.”

 

Oh hell no-

 

Crackle of electricity flowed around his body as he made a dash towards where his sister was.

 

But the stranger had been faster and reached her first.

 

Akito is a step too late.

 

He glared at the stranger who carried his fallen sister like he carried a sack. “Let my sister go.”

 

The stranger stares at him, eyebrows curved in a way as if they are challenging him.

 

“I'd like to see-”

 

Akito kicked at them before they can finish.

 

His sight is now clearer than usual without his glasses that fell on to the ground when he rushed towards Tsubaki. He can see the stranger attempting to make another move and get out of this place.

 

He didn't let the stranger go without a fight and sent another kick, electricity followed him as he made his attack.

 

He refused to let the stranger go as he kept on with his onslaught of attacks, electricity continue to crackle around him and follow his command.

 

A dash, a kick, a punch, he did what he could to take his sister back.

 

Then the stranger stopped at his right and then he lost balance of his footing.

 

He tumbled and took a moment to kept himself balanced on the ground before he turned.

 

The stranger and his sister is no more. The only ones in the area now are Inazuma Japan, Endou Daisuke, Rococo, the captain of Cotarl's Little Gigant, and Akito himself. The former watched in silence, some in shock at the events that transpired.

 

Akito can only grit his teeth as he restrains himself from screaming in frustration.

 

His sister is taken away right in front of him and he had been too late.

 

***

 

His name is Kei.

 

He is currently twelve years old and he had been in this gilded cage ever since he is 8 years old.

 

Or so he was told by the people that trapped him here.

 

He doesn't remember his past. Because something happened during his captivity that made him lose all the memories he had of his past without a chance of recovering them at all.

 

He was placed in a room that is well furnished with a bed, ventilation, some toys and things that can keep him entertained, mainly story books and educational ones, along with a window that lets him see the sky and an unlockable door. No TV though. It may seem like a normal room in first glance, but he knows that it's a prison to catch his guard down.

 

He may not remember his past, but he knows that the people that trapped him here can't be trusted and he had to fight for his freedom.

 

He may have been hurt far too many times, but he still wants to fight to earn his freedom.

 

That determination is what kept him going for as long as he remembered and why he refused to budge and relent to their demands and will.

 

Today doesn't seem to be any different until he heard the door to his cell, open to make way for an older girl with ivory hair, and one of the people working here saying something.

 

He can only make out the tail end of their conversation from where he stood.

 

“...If I refuse?”

 

“...We'll see about that.”

 

The person left him with the older girl after that.

 

He took the opportunity to take his pen and notebook and wrote.  **“Who are you? One of the new people they tried to brainwash?”**

 

Kei lost his ability to speak. His vocal chords were fine, but no matter how much he try, his voice just couldn't come out. Whatever that made him forget about his past must have rendered him traumatized enough to lose his voice.

 

He read that it's something called Selective Mutism. A condition where something happened so the person consciously could not speak to anyone else except when they are around an environment that calms them down.

 

He showed the girl his reply. The girl looked distinctively Asian but he wasn't sure if the girl is Chinese or somewhere else... Asian American, for example, and they said that English is a global language, so he wrote his question in English.

 

He knows that he is Japanese from what he can remember, and his name sounds distinctively Japanese, but he can't write Kanji, he can only write and read Hiragana and Katakana, so he felt much more confident in English more than his own mothertongue.

 

The girl then answered to him in English. “I might be. But I don't have plans to let them get what they want out of me.”

 

He wrote again, asking her.  **“Who are you then?”**

 

At that, the girl's hand moved, one holding her chin and the other crossed to support the elbow. “Why don't you introduce yourself first?”

 

He pointed to himself.

 

“Yes, you. I can't keep calling you as “Boy” or “Kid” in my head all the time.”

 

Ah. Well.

 

He answered.  **“I'm Kei.”**

 

“Kei, huh? That's a cool name.”

 

She introduced herself in return. “I'm Maeda Tsubaki. I'm currently going under a different surname to protect myself. I also have a twin older brother, his name is Akito.”

 

Huh, so she's Japanese. Phew.

 

She turned her head around, observing the room. He noticed that her left hand is reaching onto her ear that is hidden by her ivory hair. A habit? He wasn't sure as she commented. This time, she spoke in Japanese. He may not be confident about his ability to speak and write in his mothertongue but Kei can still understand what she is saying. “If they're trying to put us into a false sense of security then it sure as heck working.”

 

...Is that sarcasm that he detected?

 

He implored. This time, in Japanese.  **“What do you mean?”**

 

Tsubaki blinked as she read his question before she answered. Replying back in Japanese as well. “There is not a single surveliance camera around in this gilded cage you call a room.”

 

Ah well... He may or may not have been messing around with the camera's a few times before that they ended up not putting anymore camera's on his cell.

 

Maybe they don't want to waste anymore materials? Who knows.

 

She continued. “It also means that no one is going to be listening or giving a careful watch to this cell. This makes it easier to talk without anyone knowing what topic we are talking about.”

 

“ **That makes sense.”**  He inputted.

 

“Do you know where we are right now?”

 

She asked him.

 

“ **I'm... I'm not sure. But I think I vaguely heard the people here talking about this place being the African base? The base is provided by some guy whose name starts with Gar or something.”**

 

“Garshield.”

 

He nodded.

 

The girl pondered in thought before she settled onto the chair near the table.

 

“Well, since I'll be here until these people decided that they want something from me so soon, what do you want to talk about?”

 

He turned to a new page of his notebook and wrote.  **“Can I ask you of how you got here?”**

 

Tsubaki hummed. “Hmm... you want me to tell you the story of how I got here? Well… I took a hit that was meant for my brother...”

 

He shook his head in response.

 

“...No?”

 

He clarified.  **“I want you to tell me about your life along with how you got here.”**

 

“You want me to tell you the story of my life instead for the “How I got here” part? All the way from my childhood?”

 

He nodded.

 

Tsubaki stayed quiet for a moment, looking deep in thought, before she obliged.

 

“Alright, I guess I can make an exception. Since... well. You're just like me.”

 


	2. land of giants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second of two chapters.

Raimon Middle School is a prestigious enough school but not known enough to draw attention.

There was an old history about the school's soccer club but it was left forgotten in years after the soccer club went defunct.

Other than that, it's a normal school.

Akito was glad that he's with his sister in the same class, at least.

When the teacher called for the cue for him to introduce himself, he stood. “My name is Miwa Akito, it's nice to meet you.”

His introduction was followed by Tsubaki who sat behind him. “I'm Maehara Tsubaki, it's nice to meet everyone.”

introductions were done one by one and classes start.

There wasn't anything noteworthy going on but he did get questioned about whether or not he and Tsubaki are related to each other since they look so much alike.

He answers. “We're twins but our parents are divorced.”

Divorce is a serious issue in Japan but how one see’s it often depends on how their parents’ relationship are like.

On their case, their parents got along well and are loving but they divorced due to growing differing opinions. They still care for each other so he and Tsubaki are still able to see each other.

Or so he and Tsubaki are supposed to say to anyone else.

Their surname hadn't always been Miwa and Maehara respectively.

But to protect themselves, they take a different surname on the behest of their current guardian.

It was a normal for a first day of middle school other than that.

***

“ _ **Wait... You're starting from your first year of middle school?”**_

“ _Yes, is there something wrong with that?”_

“ _ **...I was hoping you'd start from your childhood. I didn't know there's even stuff like middle school...”**_

“ _...Right, you're here for probably 3 years or more, I'll explain to you about that later but honestly, where's the fun in telling you my childhood first? What makes a story interesting is the fact that you get to unravel their motivations and past as the plot moves. Telling my childhood right from the get go is going to spoil the fun. So yes, you're hearing the story from the start of me and my brother's first year of middle school.”_

“ _ **...Fine.”**_

“ _Alright, now where was I... Oh, so we had a relatively normal school life for... okay, I don't remember the time frame that well but I remember enough that our first year of middle school through spring and summer is relatively normal.”_

“ _ **What changed it?”**_

“ _My brother and I were playing soccer on the empty soccer field near the river bank some time after the new term starts. Soccer is a pretty popular sport out there and we played it with a bunch of friends back home.”_

“ _ **From Japan?”**_

“ _Yeah, we lived in America just a little after we turned nine but we still played soccer.”_

“ _ **Why are you living in America?”**_

“ _I'll tell you later.”_

“ _ **Why?”**_

“ _It involved our childhood and like I said before, it'll ruin the fun if I tell you now.”_

“ _ **...Alright. But you promised to tell me.”**_

“ _Okay, back to the subject, while we're playing soccer, the captain of our school's soccer club noticed us.”_

***

Akito and Tsubaki played soccer before. And they still play it now.

But they didn't really have the heart or mood to join the soccer club despite their interest to it.

So they never joined the soccer club and went on the peaceful, mundane daily life of middle school.

It had been a whim in one autumn day that they decided to play soccer. It's been months since they last kicked a soccer ball and they miss the feeling of being in a field.

When they found the empty soccer field near the river bank, he looked at his sister who nodded with him in agreement.

One soccer ball with them, and they started playing, visualizing a field with their old friends playing with them together.

Yet, it's lonely.

They know that it's only in their minds that they visualize playing soccer with their old friends but it alleviates the thought that they are only the two of them playing in this large field.

It was a little into this small game that they hear him.

“That was cool!”

At the voice, they turned their head around, looking for the speaker and then looked up, seeing a brown haired boy their age with an orange bandana.

It's Endou.

They hadn't been classmates but when they were looking into the soccer club in Raimon, they did see that Endou is the captain to the re-established soccer club. So they remember him.

Endou had been running down towards where both him and Tsubaki were when they finally took notice to Endou's presence.

“Hey, how long have you both been playing? That was really awesome!”

Endou is standing way _too_ close into their personal space but he answers, for himself and Tsubaki. “We've been playing for 7 years.”

“Really? That's awesome! By the way, would you like to join the soccer club?”

Ah, the million dollar question.

They stood by with their decision of not joining the Soccer Club yet but Tsubaki turned to him, her hands moving and forming signs in sign language that they picked up while they are back in America.

His eyes widened at what Tsubaki was saying but nodded and answered. “Do you mind if we can see how your members fare against one of us? We can then decide whether we would join the soccer club.”

Endou seems to take it as an okay and agreed. “Sure!”

***

“ _ **You were barely saying anything.”**_

“ _Back when I first met Endou, I wasn't a big fan of talking. So my brother ended up doing the talking for me. We both learn sign language while we're in America and it was easier for me to communicate with sign language than to actually talk then.”_

“ _ **You're talking now though.”**_

“ _I'm getting better with it now but I still have moments where I just don't feel like talking at all.”_

“ _ **Is it to do with both you and your brother's childhood that you refuse to elaborate to me until we reach further ahead in the story?”**_

“ _Yes.”_

“ _ **Alright, I won't ask you about that anymore. Now I'm curious to what happened after that captain agreed to your request.”**_

“ _Sure, so...”_

***

They promised Endou that they will test the club's members.

So the next day, after school, Akito and Tsubaki head over to the Soccer club's building.

When they got there, there was Endou along with three others.

Endou greeted them with a smile. “Hey, you really came!”

He nodded. “A promise is a promise.”

“Miwa-kun and Maehara-san?” They turned and see a brown haired girl with a clip on the left side of her fringe. Kino Aki.

Kino was a classmate of theirs but they are only at speaking, acquantanceship terms. They don't really have too many close friends in Raimon despite their neutral and slightly amiable interactions with their peers.

They both prefer to keep it that way.

They greeted their classmate anyway. “Kino-san.” Tsubaki nods at his greeting.

“I didn't know you both could play soccer...” Kino trailed off.

“We're not exactly big show-offs but we do enjoy it.” He told her. He then turned to Endou. “So who am I testing?”

“Only you?” Endou wondered.

He nods. “Well?”

Endou then turned to the two members. One of them had short pink hair and a rough look on his face while the other had brown hair and eyes, and looking somewhat plain in comparison. “Someoka, Handa, can you do it?”

Someoka and Handa, the two mentioned members, nodded. Handa even saying. “Well, it's not like they're good players.”

...Well, isn't that just rude.

He didn't voice it out loud. Tsubaki looked back at him and said. “Good luck.”

He nods.

After he changed to the soccer club uniform, they moved out to the soccer field near the river bank. Someoka and Handa are now in front of him. With them, is a soccer ball at their feet.

“If you can steal the ball three times then it's your victory.” Kino explained to them and blew the whistle.

With a kick-off, they both moved forward to his position, confident and almost cocky.

Maybe because he worded it as if both he and Tsubaki had it as a hobby and thus, didn't take soccer seriously as the rest of the club of 4 members.

But he was able to easily see the gaps in their formation and easily steals the soccer ball the first time.

He almost let himself take it easy on them for the second time he stole the ball again because while they know the basics, they definitely don't know or have a Hissatsu at all.

It's almost... underwhelming.

Endou is enthusiastic and so is Kino, but if the rest of the members are going to be dismotivated, they're going to need a tough wake up call.

“ **Spark zone.”**

With a stomp to the ground, electricity flows around the area, static following and shocking both Someoka and Handa. Distracted by the static affecting their senses, he passed them, having taken the soccer ball from them.

When he did, he can see the shocked expressions in Someoka and Handa's faces as the ball was taken away and that there was static shocking them for that moment.

“What...”

“It's what we call a Special Move. Hissatsu, if you will.” He explains. As he did so, he turns to Endou.

“Endou-san? No offense, but at the level they are, they aren't going to win against other school's in official matches. The other school's are surely going to be tougher than we are. And they'll definitely have these Hissatsu's of their own.”

From the looks of Someoka and Handa's expression, that sentence sure stung in their hearts. Kino and Endou also looked hurt too.

“But we'll help.” Tsubaki spoke up this time.

He nods, looking back at Endou's hopeful eyes. “We'll be helping out everyone here to improve in soccer and maybe get a Hissatsu or two, but we have three conditions if you want both of us to join the soccer club permanently.”

He raised his hand and showed three fingers. “First, Raimon's Soccer Club must have eleven members enough to be on the field. If you can get more than eleven, that's a plus. And you have to win at least three official tournament matches without us.” One finger down, two to go. “Second, you must have a coach for the team.” One last finger. “Third, your deadline is until the end of our third year of middle school.”

It's Someoka's turn to look at him incredulously. “All those conditions and you gave the club a long deadline?”

Tsubaki explains. “We don't expect you guys to get new members so soon, and if you do have a need for a match with another school, you can get the club's advisor to substitute as a coach, but we don't count club advisor's as a coach so you do need an actual coach for our second condition. And given how the soccer club is recently re-established in Raimon, putting the deadline until the end of our third year is a reasonable time.”

“That does make sense...”

Endou smiled. Accepting the conditions. “Alright!”

***

“You spoke more than usual today, is Endou-san that interesting?” Akito asked Tsubaki on their way home after that visit.

It was Tsubaki's request to test the soccer club out, and while he is indeed curious about Raimon's soccer club, he wasn't sure what to make of the members.

And frankly, Tsubaki is usually afraid to actually talk.

If they're together, he usually talks in his twin sister's stead.

He does it because Tsubaki had a bad habit of back-tracking what she wants says out of the fear of accidentally offending or hurting someone with what she says at times, hence her fear of talking and decision to stay quiet.

It's another reason why they pick up sign language back in America to communicate easier when Tsubaki doesn't feel like talking once she back-tracked what she wants to say.

The fact that Tsubaki talked more than usual today means that she wants to get her pent up thoughts out.

What he got from her yesterday when Tsubaki signed was that she thought Endou seemed interesting and she wants to see what kind of person he is.

He is the one that decided on the conditions that Endou and the rest of the members in the soccer club at the moment had to pass in order for them join the soccer club permanently though.

Tsubaki answered. “Endou-san's like an open book and he's overly bright as a person. He's also someone who wears his heart on his sleeves.”

“Open book, hm?” That perked his interest.

Honest people are rare to come by in society lately.

If Tsubaki thinks that Endou can be trusted due to his honesty, then he'll give the club a chance.

***

“ _ **So did they get any new members then?”**_

“ _Actually, they don't get any new members yet for a while until our second year since they were feeling lax about the issue due to the deadline we gave them.”_

“ _ **Then why did you give them that long deadline?”**_

“ _We're not_ that _harsh just because they don't live up to the standards of a normal soccer club then.”_

“ _ **Oh, right. Sorry...”**_

“ _Moving on, we did agree on helping the team out. After that day...”_

***

“Maehara-san, would you like to have lunch together?”

Kino approached her during lunch break a few days after that.

Her brother left the classroom earlier today, not in a mood to talk with anyone for the rest of lunch break.

She nods. “Sure.”

As she did, she brought her lunch and walked out with Kino.

On the way to where Kino is bringing them both to lunch, Kino talks.

“I get that the boys can be enthusiastic at times with soccer but honestly I'm worried they get hurt one of these days. As fellow girls, even if you're not an official member yet, we got to stick together!”

She nods along the way as she listens in to Kino's chatter. At least till Kino asked.

“Maehara-san, you're not much of a talker, are you?”

She shook her head. Answering. “Sorry, Kino-san. I'm not a fan of talking.”

Kino hummed, seemingly understanding but also downtrodden at how quiet she is.

“Where do you think Miwa-kun left during lunch?”

Her brother is probably at the rooftop, or the music room. It's quiet and not many people go to any of those two locations for lunch.

“Probably the rooftop. Nii-san wants to have lunch in some place quiet.”

“Quiet?”

At Kino's imploring look, she answers. “Nii-san may talk a lot when he's with me, but keep us away for a while, he's as quiet as I am. And he usually prefers to be alone when he doesn't feel like interacting with too many people.”

Her brother actually prefered being isolated from people but knows that communication is necessary, so he talks when he needs to. So he set up his own quota for social interaction to counteract this and today, he doesn't feel like interacting with too many people at all.

So she let him go on his own. She knows that her brother will be fine.

“Really? I heard twins are always together...”

Ah. “We grew out of that after a long while.”

They've grown up with differing personalities, so you can say that they had been de-synchronized as twins for a long time.

They're still close siblings, but they're also different from each other at the same time.

Kino nods and asked. “By the way, Maehara-san, why are you always wearing headphones on? Oh, what kind of music are you listening to now?”

“I never connect it to my phone whenever I'm at school Kino-san, and I wear it because it helps make me feel at ease when I'm around people.”

She wears the clip on ear headphones all the time and wearing them is soothing. She doesn't have to listen to people saying horrible, hurtful things.

“By the way, I listen to most music except rap. Nii-san listens to just about the same kind of music as I do.”

As Kino-san talked about music with her during lunch as they ate, Tsubaki was grateful for the change of subject.

***

Two months after that day, Tsubaki and her brother went with a new routine.

School days are almost the same, but after school, they spent their time helping Someoka and Handa improve their soccer and tell them of how a Hissatsu is made.

As time pass by, they can tell that Someoka and Handa are both getting impatient about it but they do tell them to form an image in mind for what they want their Hissatsu to look and feel like.

“When I created **Spark Zone** , what I imagine was myself creating a field of electricity stopping my enemies with a stomp of my feet on the ground, and I'm the one that controlled that electricity.” Her brother explained to them. “With that in mind, what image do you want for your Hissatsu?”

Someoka and Handa were both thinking of their answers. Someoka found his answer first. “A dragon.”

He elaborated. “A dragon surging and flies along with the soccer ball, the dragon moves like it's swallowing my opponent up and get to the goal.”

Her brother gave him a smile. “There you go.”

Both her and her brother also got the privelege to see Endou's notebook of Hissatsu moves that belonged to his grandfather. But of course they can't exactly read a single thing in the book.

“...Endou-san, we can't read.” She turned to the captain as they looked at the book's contents. Endou sheepishly grinned. Seemingly forgetting that not everyone can read it.

They did provide suggestions for what they think some of the Hissatsu's are supposed to do but they're going to need more members if they do want to perform any of the other Hissatsu's in there.

On off days, they also help Endou with creating his catch Hissatsu, his grandfather's God Hand, when he requested it at least.

The team may not be a full eleven yet, but they can see that Raimon is improving.

***

Before they realize it, they started to feel more comfortable being with Raimon's soccer club and hang around with them outside of class.

She recalls that her brother often got called by Someoka and Handa for lunch and other times, Endou.

Tsubaki herself hangs out with Kino, and by then, she was comfortable enough with the soccer club's manager that she starts calling Kino as Aki and in return, Aki called her by “Tsubaki-chan”.

Both Tsubaki and her brother thought that they might not be able to have a friendship as close as the ones they use to have with their old friends again after leaving for America.

As they celebrated their 13th birthday with the 4 Soccer club members at Rairaiken, they feel that maybe, with Raimon, they can finally form new friendships.

***

“ _ **Wait, 13? Both of you are actually 12 during your first year? Isn't that a bit early?”**_

“ _There are some students who got into a higher grade a year earlier.”_

“ _ **You can do that?”**_

“ _If you're smart enough. I'll be skipping onto our second year since I had a feeling that you'd be bored with mundane daily life things.”_

“ _ **Okay. So, what happened next?”**_

“ _A week into our second year, the soccer club finally got four new members with the first years. Not enough to fill up a team of eleven though. They're interested in the sport, but aren't too motivated.”_

“ _ **Did you use a Hissatsu to give them the needed wake-up call again like what you did with Someoka and Handa?”**_

“ _Actually, we didn't.”_

***

Another shoot was sent to the goal.

Akito can see Someoka's frustration as clear as day, but he can see it, the image Someoka is aiming for.

“Keep going!” He encouraged as Someoka prepared his stance and kicked another ball, Akito himself is preparing to set up more soccer balls for Someoka to kick.

As he did so, he looked over to Tsubaki, who was helping out Handa with his own Hissatsu.

Handa finally found out what kind of image he is going for with his first Hissatsu and went for it. Endou watches from the bench, shouting out encouragement on Handa and Someoka both while Aki is back at Raimon, they apparently got new members now from four newly enrolled students at their first year and she is on the way to bring them to the field as she briefed them along the way.

He returned his attention to Someoka's progress as he kicks the last of the balls that he had set up and at that moment, blue aura like energy is formed near the soccer ball and a dragon follows it all the way to the goal post.

At the sight, Someoka grinned, all his efforts are now paid off. “Hell yes!”

Akito smiled in response to Someoka's success, Endou, who had been observing, ran to Someoka and congratulated him for getting a Hissatsu.

“That was awesome!!!”

They now hear a chorus of shouts that are of awe, all five of them at the field turned to the source of the voice, seeing Aki with the new members whose eyes are clearly gleaming.

They must have seen Someoka successfully performing his very own Hissatsu.

***

Introductions were made and the first years themselves are confused to why neither his sister and him are official members.

But with the promise that they can perform cool Hissatsu's like Someoka did, that was enough to motivate them to be serious with soccer.

***

“ _ **Just like that?”**_

“ _Yes.”_

“ _ **Why are they confused that you and your brother aren't part of the club permanently though?”**_

“ _Because they thought that it's weird that we have conditions to join the club. And besides, they still have only seven members then, nine if you consider my brother and I as official members.”_

“ _ **Hmm... okay. What happened after that?”**_

“ _We help the first years out with soccer basics and telling them the basics of how a Hissatsu works but right at early May, the soccer club got an offer for a practice match from Teikoku Academy, a school known for having a 40 year streak of victory.”_

***

“A match with Teikoku Academy?” Her brother wondered when Endou revealed the deal.

“And you said that the club is going to play...?” She trailed off, following her brother's sentence.

“Of course I did! I'm not going to let this club get disbanded!”

“...To speak frankly, Teikoku will be a tough opponent,” Akito paused, before continuing. “But the rest of you guys are getting better in soccer and some of you at least got a Hissatsu, Teikoku would _never_ see it coming.”

Seeing where her brother is going, Tsubaki smiled and spoke up. “Teikoku might have assumed that Raimon itself is a weak team full of people new to soccer, so speaking strategically, Raimon got an element of surprise.”

“But we still need four more members to find! And I'm not going to give up that easily!”

Just like that, Endou left the clubroom. He's probably off to recruit new members.

“And there he goes...” Aki sighed.

“Still, why didn't Captain consider getting only two members for the match? We got Miwa-san and Maehara-san.” Shourin, one of the first years, wondered. Then he continued. “Your conditions didn't say that you're not allowed to help in a practice match. Miwa-san only say that we have to win in official matches without Miwa-san and his sister. And Teikoku only offered a _practice_ match. Not an official match.”

...Oh.

_Oh._

***

“ _ **Did the members end up going after Endou when they found the loophole to your conditions?”**_

“ _Not really.”_

***

Aki is the one to explain it. “Maybe Endou-kun thought that he'd be recruiting permanent members as well since Miwa-kun and Tsubaki-chan aren't official members yet.”

“Well, when Aki-san said it that way...”

“Yeah, we may have gotten Fuyukai-sensei as a coach but he acts more like a club advisor than a coach so the second condition is out of the question for now.”

It's Handa that spoke up next, and continued. “But with the practice match, we may be able to clear the deadline before our third year and clear out the other conditions Miwa and Maehara set up pretty soon too.”

...Well.

She looked back at her brother, who smiled at her in an attempt of assuring her.

They did set up their conditions the way they are, and they did enjoy playing and helping out this very same soccer club, so it's inevitable right now.

“While we're waiting for Endou's success, how about we get some more practice? We can't get too complacent.”

She suggested, there were some enthusiastic cheers and now they head out of the club and onto the soccer field at the river bank, since they still didn't have permission to use the school's own soccer field.

As she walked with Aki, the manager spoke. “You know, it's strange to think that Miwa-kun and Tsubaki-chan are both unofficially coaching everyone with what you both know about soccer now.”

Aki smiled. “And you're both finally comfortable enough to speak without restraint with us! You're talking more than you did before Tsubaki-chan! And Miwa-kun is much more relaxed with his interactions with everyone now!”

“Eh? Really?” She wondered. Aki nodded.

“Yep! You still have some moments where you want to keep quiet but I can see you're improving! And Miwa-kun too!”

“Thank you Aki-san.”

It's safe to say that both her and her brother now consider Raimon as their friends now.

***

“ _ **I got a question though.”**_

“ _Sure, what is it?”_

“ _ **Why did the other members call you by your surname when the manager called you by your given name? I also find it weird that she called you by your name but your brother by his surname.”**_

“ _It's a culture thing in Japan. Calling others by their given name is a sign that you're very close to them. They don't think that they are close enough with me and my brother to call us by our given names. Same with Aki-chan.”_

“ _ **Okay.”**_

“ _I take it that you don't remember much about Japan since you're stuck in captivity for who knows how long?”_

“ _ **Yeah... kinda.”**_

“ _Alright then._ _Now, the team practiced a lot but when the sun is almost set. We then saw Endou going somewhere else and went past us. We all follow him out of curiosity and see him going to the tower.”_

***

“Why did Captain go all the way out to the tower?” Kurimatsu wonders outloud as they follow him.

“Maybe it's practice for God Hand again.” Tsubaki suggested.

Akito and Tsubaki had been helping Endou out but there hadn't been much luck to help unlock God Hand until Endou decided to train God Hand right at Inazuma Tower with a tire.

(He still wonders why a tire is used for soccer practice, of all things.)

Still, he really did grow fond and attached to this little team like Tsubaki did and is genuinely worried for the soccer club's captain.

As they reached the top, they saw Endou talking with an ash blonde haired boy wearing Raimon's gakuran. He didn't see him around before nor did he recognize him. Maybe he's new to town?

He and Tsubaki are now acquainted with the town and also their next door neighbor, the Amakusa family who had become an emergency contact to the twins in case their guardian is unavailable over the year.

But that's a story for another day.

He also memorized the faces of people around him and so he guessed that this boy is new because he didn't recall seeing him around in town before.

He called out to the captain. “Endou!”

In response, Endou turned and smiled. “Hey! Miwa! Everyone else!”

They all gather near Endou. He started. “We saw you pass by the usual river bank without calling for us and thought something is up. Are you going to practice for God Hand again?”

Endou nods but then remembered the new boy he was just talking to. “I forgot!” He gestured.

“Everyone, this is Gouenji, Gouenji, these are the members of the soccer club.”

“Neither Miwa nor Maehara are official members yet though.” Someoka mentioned the fact.

He saw Gouenji's brows curved in what seemed to be curiosity. “Not official?”

“It's a long story.” He and Tsubaki both intercepted before any of the members can answer him. Introducing himself and Tsubaki to the new boy. “I'm Miwa Akito, and this is my twin sister, Maehara Tsubaki, you are?”

Gouenji introduced himself. “Gouenji Shuuya. Are you...”

“Our parents are divorced.” Tsubaki answered.

They're getting used to the cover that they are children of divorced parents already it almost felt like they are starting to forget that they hadn't always been Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki.

But they still remember the reason why they had done so, and choose to keep remembering it as they move on.

With that out of the way, he turned back to Endou. “So, mind if we help you with God Hand again?”

Endou smiled. “Sure!”

“I'd like to help too Captain!” Kabeyama offered. Followed by the others.

“Me too, Captain!”

“Count me in, Endou.”

Endou looked like he is about to cry at the member's enthusiasm. “Guys... Of course you can!”

***

In the middle of that, a boy whose eye is covered by the bangs of his long green hair, Kazemaru, a childhood friend of Endou that he recruited to the club, joined in after seeing the training the members did and join along with everyone else.

As they watch the members practice and train, Gouenji asked. “Why didn't you join the club immediately? They would have benefited a lot from the two of you joining.”

Gouenji had been given a brief explanation to the conditions they give to Endou for the two of them to join the soccer club and had been quiet as they watch over the team practicing.

Akito answered. “We don't mind playing for the team, but we also want the team to be able to stand up on their own without completely depending on us.”

“If the team is going to depend on us all the time, they'll never grow as soccer players.” Tsubaki finished for him.

“...I see.”

After watching the team practice for a little more, Gouenji soon left without a word.

He supposed that maybe Gouenji had things to think about.

***

“ _And the day for the practice match against Teikoku arrived.”_

***

While both teams are warming up for the match, Akito and Tsubaki stood from their seat.

Akito is the first to speak up. “Everyone.”

The rest of the team looked over to him and his sister. He spoke. “Remember, they don't know what you guys can do. So...”

He and Tsubaki spoke simultaneously.

“Give them hell.”

Someoka and Handa grinned in returned. “Hell yeah.”

Endou grinned wider, looking fired up. “Let's do this!”

***

As the whistle is blown, Raimon is given the opportunity to start the kick off.

Someoka and Handa started the lead of the kick off as they advanced towards Teikoku.

Someoka noticed the lax movements of the Teikoku players as he and Handa moved.

They were being relaxed. Far _too_ relaxed at this practice match. He thought.

If he was someone new to soccer, he would have taken it as a chance to score, but Miwa and Maehara, who taught and told them about Hissatsu's, told him otherwise.

Miwa and Maehara were right. Teikoku is really underestimating Raimon.

They didn't know about how much Miwa and Maehara helped the team to improve in their plays at all.

He finds himself smirking. They're in for a surprise.

As soon as the goal is near his sight, Someoka prepared all his energy in his right leg, pulling it back as he felt the familiar presence of the dragon behind him.

“ **Dragon Crash!”**

“Wait what-”

None of the players from Teikoku were able to react in time at seeing Someoka using his Hissatsu to shoot the ball towards the goal as they reacted with disbelief at the sight of **Dragon Crash**.

The whistle as a signal to Raimon's first goal.

“Yes!” Someoka cheered along with the rest of Raimon at the goal but it was short lived when they returned to their side of the field.

Teikoku is leading the offense towards Raimon.

This time, Someoka noticed that their movements are much more coordinated and less lax than they did before as they avoided many of their attempts to block their advances.

Three of the players, one of them with an eyepatch, the second one with dark brown hair and had dreads for a hair, and the other with googles and hair tied up to a ponytail, Teikoku's captain, if Someoka recalled, jumped.

The ball follow along with them as they rotate towards it. A triangle like shape and energy formed at the ball.

“ **Death Zone!”**

All three of them shoot the ball simultaneously.

It headed it's way towards the goal post.

“Endou!” He and Handa called out to him along with the other first years.

But Endou was ready and he raised his hand. A mirage of a giant hand that is colored orange appeared. **“God Hand!”**

Pulling his hand back down, he then directed the mirage hand towards the incoming soccer ball. Stopping it from advancing into the goal any further.

Endou blinked for a moment and stared at the soccer ball he caught. Grinning in response. “I did it!”

That declaration was followed by cheers from the first years nearby and Kazemaru smiled in response.

The cheer was short lived for the rest of the team as Endou threw the ball forward.

Shourin, one of the first years whose hair is tied to a long pony tail and had an interest in Kungfu, caught the ball and moved.

“You're not getting by us!” A member from Teikoku declared as they marked him but Shourin spun the ball, calling upon a whirlwind.

“ **Tatsumaki Senpuu!”**

The wind pulled in the opposing player and out of the whirlwind, Shourin appears, still keeping on the possession of the soccer ball and moved on. His foe is blown away by the force of the wind to the ground.

“Someoka-san!” Shourin made a pass towards him and he caught it just in time.

He advanced towards Teikoku's side of the field and found himself being marked by two players.

Surveying his surrounding, he found a gap and made a pass. “Handa!”

Handa received it and jumped.

“ **Rolling Kick!”**

In a roll like motion, Handa shoot towards the goal.

The sound of a blown whistle follows.

***

Kidou Yuuto stood in disbelief as Raimon scored the second goal from Teikoku.

Genda failed to catch the ball in time. He must have thought that Someoka is the real threat as a forward before Handa revealed his Hissatsu.

The Supreme Commander, Kageyama, told them that there is nothing to worry about Raimon since they are filled with unmotivated members.

But Raimon is anything but unmotivated.

Kageyama told him that he had this information from Fuyukai Suguru, Raimon's coach.

Yet it seems that Fuyukai Suguru did not bother to check in to the club's practices at all.

Especially since some of the players in Raimon had a Hissatsu or two on their sleeves.

Though, his ears perked up when one of Raimon's players. Kurimatsu, he recalled, one with chestnut shaped hair, mention this little fact.

“It's all thanks to Miwa-san and Maehara-san that we got a chance against Teikoku! They were right!”

Followed by Handa. “Teikoku really underestimated us, just like they predicted!”

Now Someoka inputted. “None of them saw our Hissatsu's coming at all!”

Ignoring the subsequent conversation, his eyes now turned towards the two benched players.

A boy and a girl who bore a similar physical resemblance to each other. Siblings, possibly twins, he supposed.

He had already memorized the name of the players on the field when they introduced themselves earlier, so that left the two benched players.

The different surnames does raise a brow but he suspect that they are children of divorced parents.

Due to the information Teikoku had been given beforehand, he and the rest of the team dismissed them, thinking of them as someone who knows nothing about soccer.

That information had become Teikoku's blunder as they had underestimated Raimon big time. Dropping their initial plan of crushing Raimon completely.

The first six minutes of the first half went exactly as the twins predicted it.

He doubts that Miwa and Maehara knew about the fact that Fuyukai Suguru is giving out information about Raimon to the Supreme Commander, but it stands that Teikoku really underestimated Raimon big time.

From what he had gathered of the conversation earlier, Miwa and Maehara had taught Raimon what they know about the current soccer world and give them a chance to develop their own Hissatsu.

And the fact that they guessed about the possibility of Teikoku underestimating Raimon shows that they have a grasp of understanding psychology enough to form a strategy against Teikoku.

A guile way of fighting, he can say.

He finds himself grinning.

He and the rest of Teikoku had been outrunned by Miwa and Maehara's strategy.

Kidou Yuuto is known as the tactician of the field. There are times where he felt himself challenged against other teams but none of his opponents before were able to best him when it comes to tactics.

That's not to say that he looked down on his opponents, he respects them for being formidable and skilled in their plays.

Yet none of his foes came close to being able to outlast him in terms of tactics and strategy.

Interesting. He thought to himself.

How very interesting.

He may have found himself someone that could challenge him as a tactician.

If Miwa and Maehara taught Raimon to be this well-prepared, then he wants to see how good they are as a soccer player.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's title came from the Brave Frontier soundtrack of the same name (Admittedly, I took the Deemo variant of it rather than the original track itself). The “Giants” here refer to Teikoku themselves and also Akito and Tsubaki who were a bit ahead in the level compared to Raimon at the moment.  
> Even though Akito and Tsubaki helped out the practice match against Teikoku, they're still Guest-Star Party Member's, technically speaking. They may help Raimon, but they're not permanently in the team.  
> Kei is going to ask a lot of things. Kei's been out of touch from society for a long time, after all.  
> Edit (As of 22 April 2019): Before anyone calls foul about writing Kidou this way, he's still in Teikoku, has not met Fudou, who didn't even appear this early, and has yet to experience the character development he got yet.  
> I believed that before the first season of the original series, Teikoku may have gotten a few challenges here and there but none that would get them pushed to a corner. (Some of Teikoku's matches are also won through means of foul play courtesy of Kageyama but still...)  
> So I thought that this is in-character for a Kidou who has yet to see Kageyama's canon crimes and yet to get the character development he would have.  
> See you next time!


	3. noblesse oblige

Akito's been getting the feeling that he's being observed after Raimon scored the second goal for the first half.

He turns and see Kidou from Teikoku grinning before he returned to his side of the field.

Tsubaki, who was next to him, looked at him in concern.

He assured her with a small smile. “It's fine, I think Teikoku's going to take Raimon seriously now. They won't underestimate Raimon for the third time.”

Tsubaki nods, understanding.

The first time would be considered a coincidence. The second time would be where Teikoku can see that it's anything but.

Akito is considering the possibilities now that Teikoku is taking Raimon seriously. But at this point, with Teikoku taking the team seriously, Raimon wouldn't be able to fully catch up when Teikoku gains momentum.

Kazemaru, Megane, Kageno and Matsuno are new to the club and won't have a Hissatsu yet, so it's high likely that Teikoku will go after the weak links first, or possibly, the other way around so they can put down the morale of the team, either way.

Even then, not everyone in the original seven members of the club had a Hissatsu either. The ones that did were Someoka, Handa, Endou and Shourin.

Teikoku would likely have members with two Hissatsu's and they only had one.

But in case any member had to be benched...

Akito's eyes widened. “They're trying to make us play in the field.” He murmured.

Of course, Kurimatsu had shouted out his gratitude to him and his sister for helping the team, no doubt it would have turned Teikoku's attention on them.

That could've explained why Kidou had been observing them.

Kidou might have wanted to see how good they are as players to be able to help Raimon gain a fighting chance against Teikoku.

As he said so, Tsubaki's eyes were also wide. “They're-”

She cut herself off. Considering that Kino is near them, she probably doesn't want to crush her hopes that the team had a chance to fight back.

Tsubaki cares, but she always cares too much. And that is why she had the habit of back-tracking what she wants to say.

It's not that Akito think that it's bad to care too much, but he had seen Tsubaki worrying and hurting herself for the sake of the feelings of others over herself.

And as her brother and twin, it _hurts_ him to see her in anguish over others far too many.

It's been worse after they left for America, especially since they are leaving their old friends behind, but she's getting better and making slow progress in speaking out without restraint.

(But even now, both of them are still feeling the pain in leaving their old friends behind, but they had to go. It's better that their old friends are hurt by their departures. Even if it hurts him and Tsubaki too that they had to go.)

Tsubaki resorts to signing now. _“Are they going to hurt the team to lure us out to play?”_

He signed back in response. _“I doubt they'd hurt the team badly, the most they could do is brutalize them but hurt them to the point of destroying a chance of them having a career? I don't think so.”_

Tsubaki seems to have relaxed at that and now they turn back their attention to the field.

***

As they have guessed, Teikoku now took Raimon seriously and finally scored some goals against the team.

Even with practice, they are still far behind from

Teikoku is now leading in points and thus the first half ends with 3 – 2.

***

At the team's downtrodden expressions at Teikoku leading the score, Akito spoke up. “They're taking you guys seriously now.”

Like a domino, the members now look at him, including the new ones.

“They may have taken the lead now, but we still have the second half. And by the way, Endou? We're going to help for the second half.”

Hopeful looks colored the team's faces. “Really!?”

He nods. “Yeah, Shourin had pointed out once that we never said that we can't help in a practice match. So we'll help in this match.”

Tsubaki, beside him, took in a slow deep breath before she spoke out, feeling better and not planning to back track what she says again like she had done earlier. “There's a chance that Teikoku might focus their attention on us to see how we do, so while they're distracted, that will be a chance for Raimon to score.”

In hindsight, they might have taken this practice match seriously, but if Teikoku is expecting an easy time with Raimon, then they're going to give Teikoku a hard time.

Simultaneously, he and Tsubaki grinned, encouraging the team.

“We've only just begun.”

***

With the whistle blown for the second half, both Akito and Tsubaki switched out for Matsuno and Shishido and stood by the field.

Starting with a kick off with Someoka and Handa who dribbled forward towards the opposing side of the field.

He stayed there, waiting to see how their attempt goes. Tsubaki also stayed in her position.

One of Teikoku's players then steal the ball from Someoka and moved forward to Raimon's side of the field.

He turned to Tsubaki. “Let's go.”

Tsubaki heard him and nod.

As said player approaches, he stomps his feet to the ground. **“Spark Zone.”**

The familiar and comforting flow of electricity flowed through and stopped the player.

As he stole the ball, he and Tsubaki moved forward.

It's like he guessed, Teikoku are now focusing their attention on them as they move towards the goal post as they now mark him and Tsubaki to prevent them from moving forward.

Someoka and Handa are still ahead and nearby but he can't make a pass right now, not when Teikoku players are marking him and Tsubaki so he'd have to use this.

Electricity flowed near him like a cloak and ran forward through the gaps between the opposing players as electricity followed him, and then he ran forward in high speed, the sound of electricity crackling follows. **“Lord of Blitz.”**

As soon as he passed them, electricity surge through and blast them away.

Now that he is free, he looks at the field, ignoring the commentaries from Kakuma. He needs to focus.

Scanning the field, he found a gap in the formation and made a pass.

“Someoka!”

***

Someoka Ryuugo saw the pass Miwa made a little after he used Lord of Blitz and received it.

“Thanks Miwa!” He called out as he now moved towards the goal post.

Playing in a team with Miwa and Maehara is a surreal feeling.

When the twins first approached the soccer club under Endou's invitation, he had to be honest, he was ticked that they wanted to test out the club and their claim that they are not that big of a soccer fan made him assume that they weren't good players.

He and Handa were both wrong as soon as Miwa used Spark Zone on them and what he said after really stung.

And he's still pretty bitter over it for weeks.

Yet, Miwa and Maehara still helped the club after that rather horrible first impression.

He won't say it in person, but he's glad that Miwa and Maehara are here and made that wake-up call months ago.

If they didn't, they wouldn't have been able to stand a chance against Teikoku otherwise.

But still, he knows that he still have a long way to go as a soccer player along with everyone else in Raimon. Especially since Teikoku took back the lead quick after the surprise factor was gone.

But like Miwa and Maehara said, they've only just begun. And they're going to keep improving until they can stand in the same ground that Miwa, Maehara, and the rest of Teikoku were standing on.

As equals among soccer players.

“ **Dragon Crash!”**

***

“ **Power Shield!”**

Genda Koujirou called on his Hissatsu as **Dragon Crash** is incoming.

The two energies clashed but in the end, his defense won and he blocked the shoot.

He and the rest of Teikoku really underestimated Raimon big time.

He wasn't aware that Raimon got some members who had a Hissatsu and that costed them a flawless victory big time.

Kidou warned them about Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki midway in the first half and apparently, they've been helping Raimon over the past quarter of a year.

But throughout that conversation, he can catch Kidou feeling excited at being outplayed.

Though, that excitement might be directed towards Miwa and Maehara more.

Now that he saw them playing on the field, Kidou's right to be cautious but he also find himself grinning.

It's been a while since he felt himself being challenged as a soccer player.

He'd like to see if any of them can beat **Power Shield**.

He threw the ball.

“Sakuma!”

***

Gouenji Shuuya watches as **Dragon Crash** was blocked by the goal keeper's **Power Shield**. He continues to watch the match between Teikoku and Raimon, going almost equal in levels.

When Gouenji Shuuya transferred to Raimon, he thought that he could move away from soccer, away from the sport that caused Yuuka to be hospitalized.

Even as his heart ached to feel the adrenaline of being in the field, kicking the ball again, he wound up remembering his comatosed sister and stopped altogether. Promising himself to not return to the soccer world anymore until she wakes up.

So when he hears of Raimon having a newly established soccer club, he thought he wouldn't need to return to soccer again and lay low as he waits for Yuuka's recovery.

But then he met Endou who had asked for him to join the soccer club after he saved that little girl before.

He refused.

Yet, even with the club in dire straits, even after his refusal to join, Endou refused to give up.

Despite that, he had to wonder about what Endou thinks of Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki.

He was surprised to find out that they weren't officially part of the soccer club but placed conditions for the club to fulfill to get them to join the club officially. And from what he saw of their brief helping of Raimon's practice, they had to be good enough players.

He had to wonder why they decided to help the team but not join the club immediately.

“ _We don't mind playing for the team, but we also want the team to be able to stand up on their own without completely depending on us.”_

That's what Miwa had said. Followed by Maehara saying that the team would never improve if they keep depending on the twins.

It was through this that he had returned home with many thoughts in mind, remembering when he had still been in Kidokawa Seishuu before the accident that comatosed Yuuka.

He remembers his old team mates who once depended on him to score for the team and wonder if he had become a crutch the team depended on for the team to lose badly against Teikoku.

And is reminded of Yuuka and his mind circled through the What-if's of that day he is to fight against Teikoku.

If he had explained why he had to go, would the team be accepting of his reasons?

Even if he did... would they be understanding?

If he had stayed in the match, thinking that Yuuka would rather see him play in the field than worry of her, would he have been considered an ignorant brother?

If Yuuka saw him now, what would she say?

In the end, he watched the practice match of Teikoku and Raimon out of concern for Endou and the other members of Raimon since Miwa and Maehara had told him that they wouldn't be joining the match yet. Especially as Raimon's soccer club is still new.

But what he saw during the practice match wasn't a team of amateurs, but a decently trained team filled with members new to soccer, but are able to put up a fight against the well-trained Teikoku players.

He couldn't help but turn his gaze to Miwa and Maehara and felt that this must have been what they're helping the team with.

They've been coaching Raimon for months with the guise of being temporary members.

He was right to assume that they are players good enough to actually make a name of themselves through their skills and talents.

But still, why did they set up their conditions that way?

Was it really due to the fact that they want Raimon to grow as a team first before they join as players and so that Raimon can catch up to them in level?

Whatever it is, he felt that maybe Raimon's soccer club would be fine with the twins around. They probably wouldn't need him yet.

But he still watched the match to see how good of a player Miwa and his sister are.

***

Tsubaki called on the familiar energy of water as the opposing players are advancing towards Raimon.

“ **Floral Prison.”**

Water surrounds the player that had the ball in their possession and vines bind their feet from moving as they are submerged in a prison of water and flowers wrapping the water like it's a form of a demented cradle.

The ball is now in her possession as the opposing player is trapped. She look over to where her brother was who gave her a nod in return. A silent cue to give her a go for a shoot.

And thus she motioned one hand above and the other to her side, calling onto an all comforting energy, her surroundings turned into the night sky as the soccer ball floats into the air before it followed the law of gravity in seconds. The sight of a constellation glows dimly near the soccer ball.

“ **Taurus Blight!”**

The constellation glows bright as she kicked the ball, cloud like mist followed it as the ball made it's way to the goal.

Genda attempted to block the shoot with Power Shield but **Taurus Blight** broke through and shoot towards the goal.

As Raimon cheers, she was approached by her brother who is returning from his position earlier. He signed. “We should tread carefully now that Teikoku had seen what we can do now.”

She nods, signing back. _“They're going to take their attention away from everyone in Raimon now, that'll give Someoka and Handa another chance to shoot.”_

Her brother usually signed when she ends up backtracking or when he wants to say something but don't want anyone else to catch on.

So far, Aki is the only one to have caught up and learned a bit of sign language to make her communication with Tsubaki herself easier when she isn't in the mood to talk too much or after she backtracked and cut herself off, resorting to sign language when she did.

She may not be as good as her brother when it comes to strategizing but she knows people enough to read on what they will do next after a certain action.

Her brother had always been better at reading on actions while she understood people's intentions better so she can provide an insight of the possibilities of what people will do next to help with her brother's strategies.

Just training alone isn't enough to survive a match, strategy and some analysis is needed as well, without them, it won't be easy to survive a match and power can only get you so far.

Her brother continued. “We're going to make sure Raimon survived against Teikoku with a victory.”

Raimon would be able to survive this match, for sure.

***

Raimon Natsumi had observed the match from afar.

She wasn't aware that Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki are proficient soccer players until today.

She accepts their temporary membership to the Soccer Club in a stride, thinking that two additonal members isn't going to help the club in the long run anyway, even if they're temporary. But seeing how the Soccer Club members were able to withstand and score at least three goals against the supposedly undefeatable Teikoku changed her mind.

Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki are strong. A bit too strong.

And they've used their experience to teach and help the soccer club to be decent players enough to survive against Teikoku but not enough to fight against them fully when Teikoku got back their scores at 3 -2 for the first half.

Maybe experience is why the two settled for temporary membership and help the club instead.

But the question is, if they are this strong, why isn't there a thing mentioning their soccer career around?

It maybe attributed to how they were living in America for a while but even that should be enough for them to make a name for themselves back in America.

Why do they hide their skills?

Speaking of skills, she had to wonder why Teikoku arrange this practice first and surely, it wasn't to see Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki. Since Teikoku themselves didn't seem to have any data about them either, from their surprise at Miwa and Maehara's plays.

She had an inkling suspicion that the reason they had this practice match with Raimon might be due to the recent transferee, Gouenji Shuuya.

He was formerly Kidokawa Seishuu's ace, after all, Teikoku might have wanted to use the practice match to lure out Gouenji Shuuya, but they end up luring out Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki.

Twin siblings who had been hiding their prowess to the world until today, and whom are much more bigger fishes than what they assume the Raimon members to be.

As the match starts again after Maehara made a shoot to score for Raimon, she continues to watch.

She doubts that Teikoku would be satisfied with just luring the wrong player.

***

Fast and swift as lightning. Tranquil and still as water.

That's the feeling that Megane Kakeru gets when he see's Miwa and Maehara playing up close.

He may not be good at soccer but when you have a twin brother who is good at it, he couldn't help but learn a little too.

He had known the position of Raimon's own soccer club long back when he first enrolled to Raimon middle school but he didn't join in yet until Endou made the offer, and he was excited if it means that he'd have the heroic protagonist like story by saving the club by joining.

He was so wrong when he saw Someoka getting that awesome Hissatsu and score the first goal and then there's Miwa and Maehara, who had been helping the soccer club before to get their own Hissatsu before he joined and now that he saw them play in the field, he couldn't help but feel that he is so so powerless.

He doesn't understand why they didn't join immediately when Endou told him of their temporary membership but now that he saw them, he understood the logic behind why they set up the conditions for them to join the soccer club permanently, even if he doesn't like it.

He had read enough stories and Manga, watched enough shows, and played enough games to recognize and read onto the reasoning to why.

Miwa and Maehara feared being seen as a “Crutch Character” so early in the establishment of Raimon's soccer club and one day, the other members are going to catch up to become so strong that Miwa and Maehara won't be able to catch up to them in strength so quickly.

They want to be equals with the other Raimon soccer club members, that is why they help the team.

It hurts him to think about it, but seeing the first of the soccer club members, including the temporary Miwa and Maehara, he can't help but feel like he is just a supporting character than a protagonist considering how much they put themselves into this match, making him seem like he is so shallow, wanting to join and play soccer just so that he can have his own protagonist like story.

But the sight of their plays made him want to see and stand in this same field altogether, he felt the joy of wanting to support a character to continue and fulfill their quest, and hey, supporting characters aren't always useless. So even if he isn't a protagonist to the world at large, he can be a supporting protagonist of his own as he watches the match from his position in the field.

Quietly, he left the field and requested to be put on bench after Maehara scored, explaining that he is much more confident with analyzing his opponents than to play in the field. The team accept his reasons with a raised brow but put Matsuno on Forward regardless.

But still, Miwa and Maehara are going to need a moniker of sorts as Raimon's very own secret weapon.

He already had a name in mind for their moniker after seeing their Hissatsu's.

Fast and swift as lightning. Tranquil and still as water.

Thunderswift Lord and Fair maiden of Mercury.

They're perfect names for Miwa and Maehara's moniker.

***

Despite the two sides fighting seriously, the match eventually ends with a tie.

Kidou Yuuto finds himself unsatisified that the match ended this way but he also felt a sort of satisfaction after seeing Miwa and Maehara's plays.

Maybe he found himself someone that would be a worthy rival to his strategies.

It's a shame that they couldn't get Gouenji Shuuya to show up and play as they intended earlier, but knowing about Miwa and Maehara helping Raimon and seeing them play on the field, that is enough to satisfy himself.

They're worthy to keep an eye on when the Football Frontier comes by at the end of May.

***

Kageyama Reiji wasn't pleased with the outcome but he finds that Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki are players to watch out for.

They may not know it, but their help to Raimon alone is but a threat to his plans.

Fuyukai Suguru did not bother to check into Raimon's practices to notice a thing about Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki's interference and influence to Raimon. He may have to do something about that soon.

Still, he still has hope that Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki will not intervene too much.

He found out from hearing the nearby students that they are under temporary membership of the soccer club and they are all surprised that Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki had been great soccer players.

He might be able to use it to his biding.

He'll have to investigate their background and see what it takes to make them tic and leave Raimon to aid Teikoku.

***

Teikoku eventually left, they decided not to go for a third round since it's a practice match to start with.

But Kidou's parting words felt foreboding to her and her brother.

“ _Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki, I'm looking forward to see you in the Football Frontier. We won't underestimate Raimon next time.”_

She isn't sure how to feel about having the attention of Kidou Yuuto. She and her brother heard rumors of a genius playmaker in Teikoku throughout the year and she doesn't think that it's a good sign that they caught his interest.

They have trained soccer in America on off days but they don't have plans to make a name for themselves so early. So they hid their abilities as soccer players.

But...

Raimon is worth it.

As worth it as their old friends, as they are their first priority in mind before Raimon.

When Teikoku finally left, her brother bowed. “Sorry about the practice match Endou. I thought it wouldn't end with a tie.”

Ah, her brother is probably blaming himself for not giving a victory to Raimon through their help.

Even if her brother never showed it too much, he always had the tendency to blame himself first in case something he had done failed and felt like he let someone who relied on him down for it.

After leaving their old friends behind for America, that self-blaming turned as bad as her fear of talking did, as he finds himself wondering if both of them are doing the right thing by leaving them.

She finds herself questioning her decisions too but eventually, her brother's rationalization of their decision convince her otherwise. But she knows, as his sister and twin, that her brother still wonders if rationalizing his decisions and emotions are the right thing to do to a point that all of that self-blame turned to self-loathing.

She helps talk out with him as much as she could but some of those talks often turn to fights as her brother's rationalizing view conflicted with her empathy.

Despite that, they are still close as twin siblings since those fights were what made them understand each other as family.

Endou smiled. “It's not your fault Miwa. And hey, at least we got a tie, not a complete loss in my book!”

“Yeah, and your help didn't go to waste! If you didn't help us out, we wouldn't have lasted long against Teikoku!” It's Handa who spoke next, following Endou's optimism.

The one to speak up next is Kazemaru, whom they have yet to properly have a conversation of. “I may not have been in the club for long but I know you and your sister, you did your best to help Endou and the others before this, and all that help paid off. There's always next time if you didn't get a victory right away.”

“But we still need a long way to go if we actually want to win against Teikoku.” Someoka gruffly pointed out. But he adds. “Still, we're going to need all the help we can, to improve as soccer players, and improve our soccer.”

“We want you to keep helping us improve!” The first years spoke up in unison this time.

“You guys...” Her brother finally looked up to see the smiles of all eleven members of the soccer club.

She saw him gave him a smile to them out of gratitude. “Thank you.”

Yes, Raimon is worth it.

***

Word travels fast that Raimon had two powerful members in hiding, and every student present for the match can attest to the truth when they were asked about it and were also able to attest that with their help, Raimon is able to score an actual tie against the invincible Teikoku.

Their names are Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki.

The Thunderswift Lord and Fair Maiden of Mercury.

Word travel fast. But people who talk have loose lips.

The fact that they are twins under divorced parents also spread as fast as their names and monikers were spread.

A nearby boy listens as he heard students walking back home talking about the two powerful soccer players in Raimon along with the rumor that Kidokawa Seishuu's former Ace Striker is also seen in Raimon.

“Could those two be...?”

***

Thunderswift Lord and Fair Maiden of Mercury.

Kidou supposed that the moniker is astonishingly fitting due to the Hissatsu's they show during the practice match.

Fast and swift as lightning. Tranquil and still as water.

***

Thunderswift Lord and Fair Maiden of Mercury.

Akito couldn't help but stare at Megane incredulously. “Did you have to call us that?”

“But it fits!”

“And now everyone who knows soccer would only know us by that.”

This is one of the reasons why neither Tsubaki nor himself wanted to make a name of themselves so early. Some titles aren't worth having pride over.

Even if it fits, it sounds almost embarrassingly similar to something in a fantasy RPG game. He had a feeling that one of these days, someone is going to call them a Chuunibyou when they are actually not.

(Begrudgingly, he had to admit that with this, Raimon's Soccer club now can have practice matches with other schools.)

***

_**"Now I'm getting even more curious about your childhood..."** _

_"Not now."_

_**"Okay then. What happens next?"** _

_"Well, we continue practice as usual until..."_

***

Akito and Tsubaki were quiet as the team talks to the student council president. Both of them were accounting on the amount of practice offers they got and are filtering through the myriad of request they got from various schools filled in a paper right in front of them.

Akito had to wonder why _Kidokawa Seishuu_ and _Zeus_ are even among the list... but it's possible that Kidokawa Seishuu and Zeus are both interested to find out about what sort of player both Tsubaki and himself are since word got spread out that both of them are helping and basically coached Raimon. And any player who can coach a new team to get a tie against the supposedly invincible Teikoku must have meant that they are really good for Kidokawa Seishuu and Zeus standards.

That's... not a good sign.

He also found out that Gouenji was Kidokawa's former ace a few days after the practice match with Teikoku but something happened so he transferred out to Raimon.

No wonder Teikoku requested the practice match. They must have been looking for Gouenji.

Their plays and help to Raimon far early before Gouenji's transfer must have caused the search for Gouenji diverted.

But still, he didn't think about the possibility that Gouenji is what Teikoku are after, they were more focused on making sure Raimon actually survived and got a chance to fight back against Teikoku and while he was disappointed and felt really horrible that their help wasn't enough to get Raimon to win the match, he is now feeling glad that they got out of the match with a tie.

An actual victory against Teikoku in a practice match isn't a good sign with the flood of request coming from every school possible.

They don't need to attract too much attention.

Especially since their old friends might be watching the matches.

Maybe he and Tsubaki should keep an eye out of names to watch for in the Middle School soccer world... they _really_ didn't know that Gouenji was Kidokawa Seishuu's former ace but heard enough rumors about Teikoku having a ruthless, genius playmaker. That's what the twins get for not following the local junior soccer news over the year when they returned to Japan.

Back to the matter of hand... As the rest of the members are still talking, he signed to Tsubaki. He doesn't want them to hear this out yet.

“ _Kidokawa Seishuu and Zeus are too powerful for Raimon to beat at the moment. We should consider suggesting other schools that aren't too powerful but decent enough for the team's confidence boost.”_

Tsubaki nods. _“There's Minodouzan, but it's a team full of defensive plays and it's going to take more than just Someoka and Handa to get that defense to crack and they're a rival to Senbayama for defensive teams. Seishou academy... it's a good school whose soccer team's power is on the same vein as Kidokawa Seishuu, definitely not a good choice either. We still haven't gotten through the list of the schools asking for a practice match either...”_

That's when a hand appeared on their sight and took the list of schools. They saw Raimon Natsumi taking it and to their surprise. She signed. _"Quiet a deep discussion you have there."_

“...You knew sign language?” Akito spoke out loud this time, he's way too surprised that someone else knows sign language.

“I'm fluent enough with Japanese sign language. However, just in case, I learned a little bit of American sign language so I was able to understand some of the things you were saying.” She paused before she spoke once more. “Before you ask, I'm the student council president, it's my duty to make sure that students had an easy time during their enrollment in Raimon.”

Ah.

Raimon Natsumi then suggested. “Rather than talking among yourselves, I suggested that you should accept the practice match request with Occult Middle School. They were very insistent to the point of sending a blood soaked letter to us. And from what I can gather of what you were saying, some of the teams requesting the match are too powerful for Raimon at the moment, yes?”

“...You got us figured out.” He admitted.

The rest of the players are now crowding around them the student council president and Endou asked. “So, what do you think?”

The student council president actually gave them an easy way out. And Occult Middle School had a decently trained team, not too strong, not too weak. “Raimon should accept the practice match offer with Occult Middle School. The other teams requesting the practice match in the list are all too tough for the club to beat at their current level.”

He can catch on to the grimace the members are giving but he alleviates them by adding. “We still got time before the practice match if we accept it, we can help out with practice and maybe see if some of you are ready to practice for a Hissatsu.”

He also doubt the idea that all the teams in the list are going to participate in the Football Frontier either. Thank small mercies.

“Thank you for the suggestion, Raimon-san.” He bowed lightly to the student council president.

“Just call me Natsumi, you may mistake me for my father if you call me Raimon-san.”

“Alright.”

***

“ _ **Is this another of those cultural things since she let you call her by her given name?”**_

“ _In a sense, yes. Natsumi-chan's dad is the school's chairman and social hierarchy is big in Japan and while both my brother and I refer to her dad as Mr. Chairman, we first refer to her by her surname until she let us call her by her given name.”_

“ _ **I see... so what's next?”**_

“ _A few days after that, we got a new manager to help the club.”_

***

“ **Taurus Blight!”**

Akito watches as Tsubaki's shoot going all the way to where Kabeyama was, Kabeyama stood a good distance before the goal post and tries to call on the energy of forming his Hissatsu.

At that moment, he shouts. **“The Wall!”**

A giant wall appears behind him and stops Tsubaki's shoot.

Tsubaki smiles at Kabeyama's success while he was approached by his fellow first years.

Meanwhile, Akito returned his attention to Kazemaru who was out of breath in his attempt to steal the soccer ball from him.

“Do you want to take a break?” He offered.

The green haired boy shook his head. “As much as I appreciate the offer, no thank you Miwa. I think I'm getting the idea of what kind of image I want to form for my own Hissatsu already. I don't think I can rest until I can accomplish it.”

He can understand that, but he doesn't want Kazemaru to feel burned out and tire himself.

Someday, he's going to get hurt from overworking himself.

“Alright, I'll give you one more try to steal the soccer ball from me but you're going to get a break after this.” He compromised.

“Deal.”

He stood by his stance and waited for Kazemaru to prepare himself. He stayed there as Kazemaru charged forward but he can feel it.

The wind following Kazemaru like the coming of a gale tempest.

The wind blows strongly past him and belatedly, he realized that the ball isn't in his possession anymore.

He turns and see Kazemaru grinning at his success and he smiled back to congratulate him.

***

Otonashi Haruna observes the soccer club training at the field from the bridge.

She had been curious to how Miwa Akito and Maehara Tsubaki had been helping with the soccer club's training before and she was starting to feel the need to support this team in getting stronger after watching the practice match with Teikoku.

(Maybe it'll be a step closer to talking to her brother in person, to know where he had been the last six years. She finally saw him in person after so long.)

Now, she finally saw the team train right as she watch them from above the bridge and is now making her way down to find Kino-Senpai.

She is officially curious because the two aforementioned students are strong and good enough players to make a name for themselves but there is nothing about them at all even before their enrollment to Raimon.

There is not a single mention about them in the soccer junior leagues in Japan despite the fact that they had mentioned that they lived in Japan before transfering out to America four years ago until their return last year from what she gathered from Kino-Senpai and their classmates back in their first year. Even when she tried searching in the American soccer news for articles concerning the twins, there is nothing about them at all.

It's as if they are a blank slate before they make themselves known in the practice match against Teikoku.

But she knows that they are good enough players if they are able to help Raimon to be able to have a fighting chance against Teikoku.

And from what she has seen of them right now, the twins are teaching them based on experience. Experience that should make them be good enough.

After she talked to Kino-Senpai about becoming the new manager of the soccer club, she then saw Miwa and Maehara walking towards the bench.

She thought it's a good opportunity to ask and so she greeted. “Hello Miwa-san! Maehara-san!”

The twins turned towards her. While Maehara-san nod at her, Miwa-san returned her greeting. “Hello, you're...”

“I'm Otonashi Haruna! I am from the Newspaper Club and I'd like to know about the both of you!”

“An interview?” Miwa-san wondered. His brows curved in doubt and suspicion.

She shook her head. “No no, it's not! I'm simply curious since you both have been the talk of the school after that practice match with Teikoku Academy! Oh! None of the conversations here will be released for the school's news unless you wanted it to be released!”

She maybe nosy since she is a journalist by heart, but she knows privacy.

Not everyone appreciates the spotlight and from what little she know of them at first before that practice match, the twins prefer to keep their personal affairs private and never flaunt their achievements around.

And she can see that they were very fidgety with all the attention they got after that practice match and when another member of the Newspaper Club hounded them for an interview in the most forceful way possible, she saw the twins resorting to calling for Raimon Natsumi to call them off and said member got a warning that if they don't respect the twins' privacy, that member will be banned from the Newspaper club.

She had to scold them hard for it and also for almost ruining the Newspaper club's reputation so she decided that if she wants to know about the twins, she'd keep anything she know about them off the records of the Newspaper club.

And hey, consent existed for a reason! No consent means nothing will be given out to the public!

It's hard to believe that some people don't understand the concept of it.

She can see the relief in their eyes at her answer. Miwa-san agreed. “Alright, we may be able to answer a few if you won't make them an interview for the school's news but we won't answer if they are a bit too private for us.”

Alright, she can do with that. And she is someone who won't break her promise. “Okay then! First off, when did you start learning soccer?”

Miwa-san answers for both himself and his sister who had been quiet since she approached them.

“Hmm... well, we used to play with our old friends back before we left for America and we started getting our own Hissatsu's too together with them then. But none of us thought about getting into the league yet and are content playing soccer with just us and our friends.”

She nods. That makes sense, considering that there was nothing about them at all before that practice match.

She asked the next question. “Did you continue practicing soccer even when you're in America? The both of you are very good players!”

“We did, but not everyone in our new school then are... well, giving us a warm welcome. To put it lightly, because we're Asian and we're struggling with English too. But we did have one friend who was willing to teach us English and learn Japanese. They also happen to be great with soccer and we train together since. We still kept contact with them and chatted a lot with them when we return to Japan.”

 

She couldn't help but wince when Miwa-san talked about the treatment they get at their new school. She heard stories of people with Asian heritage being discriminated outside of the Asian countries and hearing it in person is something else. On the bright side, at least they have a friend who is willing to help them.

“I see! Okay, my next question...”

She ended up asking trivial things but at least it's productive. And she promised that she's not going to send it to the Newspaper club so she left all that information she get in another notebook she recently bought for very private interviews.

(She was taken aback when the twins revealed that they both hate sweets with the exception of Mochi and honey. How can anyone hate sweets!?)

***

“ _ **You hate sweets?”**_

“ _My brother and I never really liked them. We like Mochi and honey, we tolerate Tiramisu cake, but that's it.”_

“ _ **Why?”**_

“ _There's a thing called genetics. If one of your parents don't like sweets, it's going to be inherited by one of their kids.”_

“ _ **Is that the case with you and your brother?”**_

“ _Yes. Now I'll skip to two days after since they were mostly practices and to our surprise, Gouenji comes to our practice that day.”_

***

Gouenji Shuuya has a lot to think after that practice match Raimon had against Teikoku.

In the end, it all boils down to one question.

Who are Miwa and Maehara playing for?

He couldn't help but wonder why they decided to play in the match against Teikoku anyway despite the conditions they set up for the club to fulfill to get the two to join.

He initially played for himself and Yuuka, but now that Yuuka is in a coma, he decided that he won't play until Yuuka awakened from her coma.

There wasn't a point to play if Yuuka wasn't there to watch him.

But he couldn't help think that maybe it wasn't the right thing when he saw Miwa and Maehara playing for the team.

In the end, who should he play for?

It's by chance that Endou saw him visiting Yuuka at the hospital and he had a chance to ask.

After he told Endou about why he hasn't played soccer after moving away from Kidokawa Seishuu. That is.

"Endou, who are you playing soccer for?"

Endou's brows were raised in wonder. "That's kind of a weird question. But if I have to say..."

Endou smiles. "I'm playing for myself."

He can't help but ask. "Why?"

Endou answered, sounding so sure of himself. "Well, it's because I want to!"

He then adds. "If you're playing for others, I don't think you'd be really happy that way. You end up not having a chance to be yourself and play soccer the way you want."

Endou smiled as he finished. "Besides, my grandpa would have wanted me to play for myself than to play for him anyway."

The mention of Endou's grandfather caught his interest. "Your grandpa?"

"Oh, yeah! My grandpa is..."

Endou talks of a dead grandfather who used to be a great goal keeper and how he came to play soccer because he likes it more and also to give him a feeling that his grandfather is with him in spirit.

They part ways after talking for a while. And Gouenji went home with a new definitive answer to his current dillema.

He may have been basing his decision to not play soccer based on what he thought Yuuka _would_ want than basing it on what Yuuka would _really_ want.

It gave him a lot of food for thought about Miwa and Maehara's decisions to play in the practice match.

They may have helped the team, but they must have also been playing for themselves too.

And so three days later, he came passing by to see the soccer club practicing at the soccer field near the riverbank.

Right behind him, he hears a car stopping nearby and he hears. "This isn't your usual way to the school, is it?"

It's the student council president.

He answers. "I just feel like going this way today."

With that, he left and headed down to where the soccer club was with an answer in mind.

He'll play again for himself, and for Yuuka to see that when she wakes, he'd have won a major league and that will be the greatest welcome back gift that he could give to her.

***

“Gouenji?”

It's Endou who noticed the ash blonde boy's appearance when the rest of them are deep in practice.

Akito and Tsubaki helped out the other members who have yet to gain a Hissatsu in improving their skills and giving them tips to finding their very own Hissatsu.

The other members who did have a Hissatsu already are practicing in using them again so they can get used to calling out the energy needed to summon that Hissatsu.

Both Tsubaki and himself theorized that magic is almost abundant if one believes in it enough. Considering that Hissatsu's in soccer existed for a long time before they were born, it's plausible to believe that they are also usable outside of soccer as well.

Both of them once tested out in summoning one of their Hissatsu's and another time, the element of their Hissatsu (Electricity and water for them respectively) outside soccer practice during their time in America to test the theory and they indeed manage to call out their Hissatsu, albeit, it's weaker in potency and power compared to how they used it when soccer is involved.

But this method is also helpful enough to let them get used to the energy they are comfortable with.

Out of curiosity, he walked towards where Endou was, Tsubaki and the other members following suit as they stood in groups behind Endou.

“I've been thinking about it for a while but... I'll join.”

Endou's eyes were gleaming as Gouenji replied. “Really!?”

Gouenji only nods and the rest of the team looks at where he and Tsubaki were.

God, both of them are really acting like the coach of the team, aren't they?

Tsubaki is the one to speak up, greeting him. “Welcome to the club, Gouenji-san.”

He followed after Tsubaki. “Raimon is going to need more help to win the tournaments. Besides, the more the merrier.”

Gouenji smiled in response. “Thank you.”

He had a thought and suggested. “What kind of Hissatsu's do you have? Mind if you show them to us?”

Considering that he was an ace, he's curious to what kind of tricks he had.

Gouenji nods in agreement. “Sure.”

***

Gouenji changed to the club's jersey, soccer ball in possession.

Gouenji jumps along with the ball as fire formed underneath his feet and they get bigger-

H E L P L E S S

C A N O N L Y W A T C H

NO NO NO GET AWAY FROM THAT FIRE-

PLEASE PLEASE GET OUT-

E V E R Y T H I N G G O N E

I N A S H E S

“-wa-kun!? Tsubaki-chan!?”

He belatedly realize that he wasn't standing. Tsubaki must have felt the same too as he turned to see her on the ground trying to calm herself down with Otonashi helping her out.

He looks up slowly to see the members gather around him and Tsubaki, including Gouenji, all of them are concerned.

Handa is the one to ask. “You okay? Both you and Maehara look like you both are panicking hard and really afraid of something after Gouenji showed **Fire Tornado**.”

...Oh.

They just had to have a panic attack right in front of the team, don't they?

He slowly stood from the ground. “Sorry about that, we don't... we don't really handle fire well.”

Their eyes widened and Gouenji looked away, he must have felt guilty to accidentally send him and Tsubaki panicking and bringing up their fear of fire.

“Why didn't you tell us? If you can't handle fire that well-”

“No Endou, it's fine.” Akito stopped Endou. With a deep breath, he turns to Gouenji.

“Even if you can use fire, that isn't going to stop me and Tsubaki from helping you.”

He could see Gouenji's frown of concern. “Are you sure about that?”

He couldn't help but let his grimace show as he admitted. “It's... it's not easy for us. We admit. But we don't want to let it hinder us from helping the team. Tsubaki would feel the same.”

He and Tsubaki talked about it long ago and they are trying to get better since they will inevitably have to face fire again. He looked over to where his sister was, she had calmed down significantly from her panic attack but she's still struggling to breathe normally and Otonashi is helping her.

He continued. “We're counting on the possibility that we may face someone that will have a fire related Hissatsu one day. We've been doing exposure therapy after the first time we freaked out at seeing fire, this is another form of exposure therapy in itself.”

“You sure about that Miwa?” Someoka asked in concern.

He nods. “It's alright. We just need to get used to seeing Gouenji's Hissatsu's for a while and we'll be fine.”

The rest of the team looked at them with concern. It's Kazemaru who spoke. “Alright, but call us or Kino and Otonashi if it gets a bit too much for the both of you.”

“Thank you, Kazemaru-san.” He thanked them. He felt a tug at his sleeve and turn to see his sister looking at him, giving him a nod. She had now calmed down from her own panic attack.

They turn back to Gouenji and simultaneously showed their hands.

“Let's start again, I'm Miwa Akito, and this is my twin sister, Maehara Tsubaki. We're happy to have you in the team.”

Gouenji, this time, smiled once more and shook both their hands. “I'm Gouenji Shuuya, I'm glad to be a part of this team.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The wonderful yet horrible thing with nails. Some things may change for the better, or for the worse.  
> I admit that the shout-outs to Granblue Fantasy is quite blatant, but Spark Zone is original.  
> I'm curious to what the Ares team placements are like so this is what I thought.  
> Remember that Natsumi's the student council president for a reason.  
> I also admitted that Akito and Tsubaki's fear of fire is a teeny bit ironic considering their elements. Electricity can make fire and water can stop it.  
> [Here](https://twitter.com/shunenmeiji/status/1143572257886760960) is a little visual to Akito and Tsubaki that I drew by myself.  
> See you next time!


	4. Run Lads Run

Akito and Tsubaki witness Gouenji using Fire Tornado one more time in practice and steeled themselves.

It's been two days since Gouenji joined and the match against Occult Middle High is arriving soon.  
He and Tsubaki concluded that Gouenji is a powerful ally to have. His skills and reflexes are no joke and they now knew why he is considered the ace.

He's the powerhouse that Raimon needed.

Right now, everyone else are practicing as he and his sister are trying to get used to Gouenji's fire before the practice match starts with Kageno and Otonashi backing them up in case they end up having a panic attack.

When the fire starts spinning, he felt the fear creep in but compared to the first time both of them see Gouenji's Fire Tornado? It wasn't too bad.

According to Otonashi, they had taken a faster recovery from their panic attack... by fifteen seconds, she counted. But they take what progress they can get from it.

And Kageno is surprisingly experienced with helping them out from their panic attacks. He said that it came from his own experience where he had social anxiety due to his own shyness holding him back from talking with others, often giving him a panic attack at times because of it.

It's also Kageno who noticed their panic attack the first time it happened and tell the other members about how to calm them down.

Speaking of Gouenji... let's say that interacting with him is a work-in-progress.

Both him and Tsubaki can talk with him just fine but they have a hard time looking at Gouenji in the eye without being reminded of the fact that he can use fire.

(A L L H E C A N D O I S W A T C H)

It'll take time, but they're working on communicating more to get used to Gouenji himself

***

Kidou Yuuto arrived together with Sakuma Jirou in Raimon once more to watch Raimon's next practice match, having heard from their spy that they will have another practice match soon.

He and Sakuma stood near the gates as they watch the match from afar. Seeing Endou, Someoka, Miwa, Maehara, Gouenji-

Wait. Gouenji?

He looked over at the members in Raimon's side of the field again to confirm himself.

Gouenji Shuuya is there in Raimon's side of the field.

He must have joined the soccer club some time after the practice match with Teikoku.

Well, Gouenji joining Raimon is a surprise, but it's a pleasant surprise.

They can now confirm that Gouenji Shuuya is indeed in Raimon.

***

Tsubaki and her brother decided not to play for this practice match for Gouenji to play.

But the team is struggling.

She noticed that there was a trick done by Occult to stop Raimon at their tracks. The coach talked of some words... is it a hypnosis trick?

Gouenji seems to suspect that the hypnosis trick in play as well, since he hesitated trying to shoot for the goal.

The break between the first and second half arrives and she pointed out. "They may be using hypnosis to put you guys in a position that lets them win."

"You noticed too huh, Maehara."

She couldn't help the slight, involuntary flinch at hearing Gouenji's voice.

(S T O P P L E A S E D O N T S T A Y I N S I D E T H E F I R E)

She bolster down the creeping fear and continue. "Do you notice that the coach said something before the members of the other team used their Hissatsu?"

Endou frowned in thought. "I think I hear the coach say something like "Mare, Mare"-" Endou's eyes widened and he answered. "That's the hypnosis trick!"

"A verbal one too." Her brother adds. Gouenji spoke next.

"The goal keeper may also have a hypnosis trick on them to make us miss the goals."

"Is that why you didn't go for a shoot before?" Someoka wonders.

"Yes."

She suggested. "I think the trick used by the goal keeper is a visual type of hypnosis. As long as you don't pay attention to the goal keeper, you should be fine. As for the verbal hypnosis..." She turns to the rest of the team.

"Which one of you had the loudest voice in the team?"

***

Endou volunteered to shout as soon as he realized the hypnosis trick in play, followed with Kurimatsu and Kabeyama.

Now that Raimon figure out about Occult Middle's trick, they were able to win back the score of 4 - 3, Raimon leading.

***

_**"So is the Football Frontier thing next?"** _

_"Yes. Before that, we have a new member who happened to move from their old school just as the club got the notice that the Football Frontier is soon."_

_**"Are you going to help them?"** _

_"Remember the deal that we had set up to the club for us to join permanently? We're not helping them in the official matches because of that."_

_**"And there are no loopholes for them to use?"** _

_"No, and besides, we're confident that the rest of Raimon had grown enough as a team so they won't depend on us all the time by the start of Football Frontier. But first, about the new member..."_

***

Nothing.

Kageyama Reiji can find nothing about Miwa Akito and his twin sister, Maehara Tsubaki.

He finds it strange that there isn't much about their history living in Japan and to add that further, neither of the twins' parents are available.

They can't be contacted at all.

That left the final contact he had yet to speak to.

Kageyama Reiji read the paper on the table showing the picture of a man with green hair and grey eyes hidden behind the frames of his glasses.

Watarai Kenji.

A family friend of the divorced twins.

***

Domon Asuka joined during the day that they received the notification that Raimon can participate in the Football Frontier.

Tsubaki and Akito kept their silence but she thought that it felt too coincidental that a new member joined right at the same day, and Fuyukai-sensei got him in.

Speaking of Fuyukai-sensei... why does he start to care about the club's progress now?

He never made an effort to come and watch the club's practice and even after that match against Teikoku, he still doesn't drop by at the club by much.

She had a bad feeling about the man but that's mostly because his surname can mean "unpleasant" and yes, she's feeling petty about why she thinks that Fuyukai-sensei gave her a bad feeling.

If she has to speak seriously, though, it's mostly because Fuyukai-sensei had never acted responsibly or acted like a teacher or coach as Endou intended.

Maybe it's the apathy he had and for being forced into the job by Endou then, but even then, he could have been bothered to actually do his job right. He's a teacher for crying out loud!

In short, she thinks that Fuyukai Suguru is not the epitome of a trustworthy teacher and coach.

And hence, gave her a bad feeling.

***

Domon Asuka was grinning inwardly in glee as the mission to spy on Raimon starts of nicely.

Neither Miwa nor his sister, Maehara suspect him either, so that's a plus.

The Supreme Commander also told him to keep watch and look out for Miwa and Maehara's background by talking with them and apparently, he found nothing about their background at all.

And their parents are too busy at the moment apparently, with only their family friend and guardian, Watarai Kenji, available to be contacted.

That maybe strange by itself and would warrant a bit of suspicion, true, but he figured that maybe their parents are just _too_ busy and that the Supreme Commander is just being paranoid.

Oh well, he won't sweat too much details.

For now, he's watching Raimon practicing from his current position.

The training seems normal so far.

When he saw Miwa and Maehara standing by at the side of the field, he went over to them. Greeting. "Yo!"

"Domon-san." Miwa greeted as Maehara nodded.

"Gotta say. You sure do know a lot to be able to help and train a newbie team in Raimon. I'm curious, have you played in all positions possible in soccer?"

"Everything but goalkeeper." Miwa answered.

"Back when we were younger, we often play in different positions with our old friends but midfielding is the only position that we have the most familiarity with. For the rest, we only have a general understanding to what the player should do in that position and what to do so the players can improve." Maehara continued.

That makes sense. They probably play a lot with these old friends so their coaching and training of the team are all from their experience.

So far so good, nothing suspicious about Miwa and Maehara...

***

The sound of the door bell rang throughout the apartment as a green haired man, clad in a gray sweat shirt, sweat pants, and a black shirt walked towards the door, opening for a blonde haired man with blue eyes bringing in a box. Speaking to him in Japanese.

"Pepperoni Pizza for one Watarai Kenji?"

"Ah, yes." He confirmed for the delivery man. His hand reached towards the pockets of his pants to take out his wallet.

Watarai handed over the exact change to the man. "Thanks for the pizza Miles. Your store's pizza is always the best. And your Japanese is getting better."

"Glad to serve!" The man smiled. Imploring. "By the way, I didn't see Akito and Tsubaki in the past few months delivering your stuff, is something up?"

"Oh, they've been studying in Japan the past year." Watarai answered with a smile.

"Huh, so they returned to Japan for 7th grade? That brother of mine didn't tell me about that... Too busy with his soccer team if you ask me."

"And you're busy juggling with your thesis and the part-time job at Pizza Camp." Watarai retorted back. "I'm sure Akito and Tsubaki still chatted with your brother. The power of technology and the internet is a sight to behold."

Miles shrugged. "Yeah, I should get my brother to spill about Akito and Tsubaki when I get back home or talk with him. _Have a nice night Kenji!_ "

Miles grinned at him as he waved a bye to Watarai. Saying the last sentence completely in English.

When Watarai closed the door, his phone rang.

Placing the box filledwith pizza on top of the shoe rack, he looked at his phone telling him of an unknown number.

Ah, it might be Kageyama Reiji. The man contacted him through E-mail when he's out for work.

He answered. "Hello?"

"Good evening, Mr. Watarai Kenji. I assume that it's night time out in America."

"Ah, yes. It is evening right now... Mr. Kageyama, I assume?"

"Yes. My name is Kageyama Reiji. I've recently contacted you through E-mail."

"Ah, right. I'm sorry, I'm currently unavailable to meet you in person. You wanted to ask me about my wards, right?"

"Yes. I would like to offer them a spot in Teikoku Academy."

His brows furrowed, suspicious, as he asked. "May I ask why?"

"I have seen them play in the soccer field and felt that their talents are wasted if they stay in Raimon. If they are to play in Teikoku Academy, I will make sure that their talents as soccer players will shine through."

"Hmm... have you talked to Akito and Tsubaki about it?"

"I have yet to speak to them in person about the matter."

"...Oh. I get it. You want me to convince them because they can't possibly say no to their guardian or parents. Am I right?"

The other line went silent.

"Unfortunately, their parents aren't that involved with their personal lives right now so all personal issues they have goes to me."

He paused for a little to see if Kageyama has anything else to say. When he heard nothing from the other line, he continued.

"The point is, Akito and Tsubaki never talked about wanting to move out of their school when I checked on them through calls and chats with me. They're happy where they are. I don't see why I should get them to transfer out."

"I see. That's a shame. I thought they would be more interested in going for a more prestigious school for their soccer career."

"Soccer is more of a hobby than a planned career for them. I get where you're coming from but I'd like it if you leave them be and let them have the ability to choose. Forcing kids onto something is counterproductive."

"...I understand, but-"

"I'd advise you to stop trying to convince and bribe me to transfer Akito and Tsubaki out. If they don't want to transfer out, then I won't transfer them out. Have a good day."

Watarai Kenji ended the call.

He should warn Akito and Tsubaki about this Kageyama. Especially if he is _that_ interested in recruiting the twins to his side...

He can only hope that Kageyama isn't related to the party involved in what happened to Akito and Tsubaki's parents.

Locking the door, he took the pizza with him to the dining room. He picked his phone and made another call.

"Hello, Miss Hawthorne? This is Watarai Kenji. Can you put Jake on the line? I want him to look up for information regarding..."

***

_"Be careful of Kageyama Reiji."_

That was the last thing Akito and Tsubaki read in the RIME group chat with Watarai-san when they checked on their respective phones after practice.

They didn't know why Watarai-san tried to warn them about Teikoku's coach.

But at the same time, they're also aware that Watarai-san worked for the American government.

He's probably paranoid and told them to be careful.

They heed and listened to Watarai-san's warning. He always had a good reason to be paranoid.

Watarai-san is their guardian but at the same time, he has his own hang-ups as their guardian.

Such as the fact that he usually prefers to laze and slack around than be productive outside of work.

And eating too many junk food to be healthy.

To this day, Akito and Tsubaki still didn't completely understand why Watarai-san took them in as his wards and suggest them to take up a different surname when they return to Japan last year.

They get that it's for their own safety, or so Watarai-san told them, but they had a feeling that it's more than just that.

Still, they can tell that Watarai-san did his best and they can respect that.

So they listened.

***

_"A little after Domon joined, Endou found his grandpa's notebook about Hissatsu's but we weren't there, we only heard about it second hand from them. My brother and I were both feeling under the weather that day and called in sick. Practice for the Football Frontier went as usual and we watched the first three Football Frontier matches from the audience rather than watch the match in the field with them. The results are..."_

***

Raimon won over Nose with 2 – 0. It was a close call at first but Kabeyama managed to face his fear and gain the first goal with the completed Inazuma Otoshi. Someoka scoring the second goal. The rest of the team had improved enough to not give the members of Nose a chance.

Mikage Sennou is a hard one since they are statistically at the same level as Teikoku. And they knew every single one of Raimon's tricks to boot. Raimon did win though, leading with 3 – 1, as they figure out quick at how they depended too much on the data they get about Raimon and adjusted their plays. Though it costed Gouenji temporarily being out for the next match as he suffered from a broken leg.

The less said about Shuuyou Meito, the better.

But long story short, Raimon won their third Football Frontier match.

***

_**"What happened in the match with Shuuyou Meito?"** _

_"Something."_

_**"Eh??"** _

_"Anyway! We got to fight against Teikoku again so Raimon can qualify for top 16 but something happened before the rematch against Teikoku."_

***

It's now the first week of June, and two weeks after the start of the Football Frontier.

Domon decided that he had enough.

Bombing the bus? What is the Supreme Commander thinking!?

He agreed with the plan of spying to see if there's anything Teikoku can use against Raimon at first, he didn't agree to commit murder!

...Okay, that may seem like a joke in a different context but the thing is, he doesn't agree with heavily injuring opposing players.

He's drawing a line at this very order.

And besides, he can't help but take a liking to Raimon.

Back in Teikoku, he had to work harder than he should just to catch up to the other members of the team like Sakuma, Genda and Kidou.

In Raimon? No one gets left behind.

Even with Miwa and Maehara's help, the two of them are also growing together alongside the members as soccer players.

He can't help but feel inferior as a soccer player when he is with Teikoku so it felt nice in Raimon.

None of the members berate him and don't force him with the need to catch up to each other.

Miwa and Maehara, despite supposedly being even better than Raimon at the moment, they don't berate him, they encourage him that he can catch up.

It's refreshing.

But what should he do now?

He talked to Kidou-san about it but it seemed that Kidou-san doesn't want to question the Supreme Commander too much even though he is just as appalled as Domon himself at the thought of putting a bomb on the bus.

So he's on his own right now.

He may be able to tell Raimon Natsumi, but he felt the need to talk about this to someone else too.

He doesn't think that he can stay calm right now. But if he told Aki, he knew for sure that she'd be hurt at this, and the same might apply to the other members...

No, he doesn't want to think about the look of betrayal and hurt they would have when they find out.

He'll have to do this alone and warn Raimon Natsumi.

***

Natsumi called for Fuyukai-sensei when he dropped by to check on the van they will be using to get to Teikoku Academy in 5 days.

Akito and his sister followed the rest of the members to check on the van as well.

He couldn't help but wonder why Natsumi asked for Fuyukai-sensei to check on the van for a test drive.

It's a school provided vehicle and surely, there are some maintenance done to make sure they are in good shape? Unless...

He signed to Tsubaki. _"Do you think Fuyukai-sensei did something to warrant Natsumi-san's suspicion?"_

Tsubaki replied. _"I think he might. Considering how fishy he is."_

_"You really don't like him at all, do you?"_

_"Can you blame me? He already gave off the air of an irresponsible, un-trustworthy adult before we actually met him. And all his actions from what we see are just a big signboard of "Hello, I'm a big bad adult who doesn't really care about your progress or well-being, kick me!"."_

Akito had to hold back a snort. "Come on, let's go."

Tsubaki nodded.

***

A bomb.

Someone apparently tipped Natsumi-san off that Fuyukai-sensei, no, Fuyukai Suguru put a bomb on the van and try to injure, and possibly kill the rest of the players under the order of Teikoku's coach, Kageyama Reiji.

And he had the gall to look _proud_ at it.

They still didn't know why Watarai-san told them to be careful of Kageyama Reiji but after hearing Fuyukai Suguru now? They now had an inkling to why Watarai-san told them so.

"Fired? That's fine by me. I got tired of being a teacher here."

Both him and his sister tolerated the man because he's a teacher. But _this_? This is the last straw.

Disregarding the lives of others is not something he and Tsubaki will let slide.

"So that's how it is, huh. Fuyukai Suguru."

He walked towards the aformentioned teacher. He muttered, a cold edge at his tone.

"Endou might have asked you to be the coach, but you didn't even act like it unless you had to. And before that match with Teikoku, you never bothered to check in to the club to see us. You only started to be around our practices just because the rest of the team finally got better. Then you decided that rigging a bomb would be a good idea and ensure that we won't have a future anymore."

His violet eyes kept looking at Fuyukai as he gaped in response. "Is that how you see us students, Fuyukai Suguru-san? Toys? Now that we are a threat to your boss, you now discard us like we're toys that have already been broken?"

"To- Toys!? No-"

"But the thought could have crossed your mind once, didn't it? You wouldn't have been so proud earlier at the fact that killing a bunch of kids is a big bonus when Natsumi-san got you to confess otherwise."

Fuyukai Suguru closed his mouth.

Tsubaki walked to his side and started a question. "Let me ask you a question, what did Kageyama Reiji had on you?"

The man did not respond.

"...Ah I see, did Kageyama Reiji, perhaps, blackmail you? Or rather, bribe you?" Tsubaki wondered, head slightly tilted to her right as she does so.

Neither Tsubaki nor himself paid heed to the soon to be former coach and teacher's response and body language that cowered in fear as his sister continued.

"Kageyama Reiji could have easily bribed you with money, he is a powerful man after all. Do your job and you'd get the money. A win-win situation. Or rather... did he blackmail that he would feed your family to the sharks? If you didn't care about your family at all... did he threaten you that he can ruin you of any chances of survival if you don't do your job right after he bribed you?"

Fuyukai Suguru's eyes now widen in response. Mostly in fear.

"Oh, I was right then."

"You!"

**"Floral Prison."**

Water took shape underneath Fuyukai Suguru and vines kept him from escaping as he is submerged in a water sphere.

Tsubaki gave a nod to him and he stomped his feet to the ground. **"Spark Ground."**

A crackle of electricity followed and head straight towards the vines that kept Fuyukai from running away.

There was a scream of agony coming from the poor excuse of a teacher as he was electrified and submerged in water.

They both let go of the magic that powered their Hissatsu.

When the show was over, Fuyukai Suguru fell flat to the ground.

He and his sister's tone were lower than it usually was as they muster a glare at Fuyukai Suguru. _"Leave."_

The man high-tail out of the school just as soon as they said so. Limping from the after effects of being electrified as he left the area.

When he left, they turned to see the rest of Raimon soccer club members being quiet, mouth gaped wide.

"...What?"

"...Yeesh. Remind me not to make the both of you mad, Miwa, Maehara." Someoka spoke up first, getting out of his trance.

"Admittedly, using Hissatsu's on him is pretty overkill..." Aki gave a nervous grin to them.

"Can't say that Fuyukai-sensei doesn't deserve it though." Handa adds.

"...He tried to kill a bunch of kids without remorse. I don't think I'd let that lie down."

"...Me neither."

Both him and his sister reiterated.

"Sure, but the point is that you're overly pissed."

Right at that moment, Natsumi cleared her throat as she walked towards the group. "Be that as it may, the issue with Fuyukai-sensei is now done with. I'll inform father soon but first..."

Natsumi showed them a letter. "Please take a look at this letter."

The members take a look at the shown letter. The handwriting looks familiar, it's-

"Domon?"

The rest of the soccer club turned towards said member as Endou said his name.

"You're from Teikoku?" Endou wondered.

"Teikoku?"

"Does that mean that Domon-san's..."

Akito walked towards said defender before anyone can say more. He gave the taller player a pat.

"You can stay around."

The rest of the team, except his sister, looked at him as if he grew a head. Handa asking him the question the rest of the team would want to ask. "Miwa, why are you trusting him easily?"

He starts. "I can understand why you guys would be hesitant after what that poor excuse of a teacher did earlier." He gauged their reactions when he paused, then continued. "But if I have to be honest? Even if he is a spy, he hasn't really done anything that will bring actual, life threatening harm to the team. And he did warn us about the rigged bomb."

Tsubaki spoke next. "Call it a gut feeling... but I'd say that we can trust him."

He gave his sister a nod before he turned towards Endou. "It's your call now, Captain. Do you trust him? Or do you not trust him?"

The team now looked at Endou expectantly, waiting for his answer. Endou's response was to walk towards him and Domon. When he stood in front of Domon, he gave the tall player a big grin.

"I trust Domon."

"...Why?" Domon's voice was a quiet and of disbelief as he asked Endou.

"Why? Well... That's because I think you like soccer as much as the rest of us do!"

Silence followed Endou's answer until Gouenji chuckled. "That's just like you, Endou."

Akito smiled. "There you have it, Domon-san."

"I... Really?"

This time, he gave a friendly shove at Domon's shoulders. "Hey, Captain's words. If he said that he trust you, then he trust you."

"Miwa..."

Domon smiled. "Thanks."

***

The rest of practice that day was spent talking things through with Domon who still felt guilty about his part in spying the team but both he and his sister supposed that the team really needed it.

Now though... even if Fuyukai Suguru hadn't intended it, Akito supposed that it was part of Kageyama Reiji's plans.

Even if they found out about Fuyukai Suguru and get him fired for it, Raimon is now without a coach. A coach acting more like a club advisor.

Without a coach, the team can't participate.

Akito and Tsubaki supposed that it might be for the better. Fuyukai Suguru had never been an actual coach to the club anyway.

But all they had now is to depend on luck that the team as a whole can get a coach real soon.

***

_**"So you can't participate at all?"** _

_"No, we still participated. I'll tell you in a bit."_

***

Megane suggested that Akito and Tsubaki can be the coach because that's what they've been doing for the club for months. It got rejected just as quick as he suggested it because they're both still students and can't be a coach.

And if Akito had to be frank, there isn't much that they could help with the club right now, they've grown leaps compared to how they were at the start. The rest of their development now depends on the players themselves.

That doesn't mean that they would stop helping the team.

But just training wouldn't be enough.

That's why they didn't join the rest of the team when they decided to go to Rairaiken to talk to the ramen bar's owner, Hibiki Seigou. He apparently knew of Endou's grandfather and they decided to ask for the man to become their coach.

They told the club that they're in need of a grocery run soon and were excused.

It's not really a lie, they are running out of groceries at their apartment and they are living on their own here in Japan, so they had to be independent, but there is also something else that they wanted to do.

They have an idea that could help the soccer club but it takes a team.

The match with Occult Middle School proved that Hissatsu Tactic's are a thing and they are legal, but it wasn't very widespread as it was in other countries.

The number of teams they knew that could use Hissatsu Tactics in Japan can be counted with a hand.

But Japanese players wouldn't have considered or called it as Hissatsu Tactics yet. And that could be why there are so few teams using them.

They already call them as Hissatsu Tactics back in America.

But now, they are going to need to think of an entirely new Hissatsu Tactics for Raimon to use.

So after they got their groceries, they spent the night planning and brainstorming.

***

"You both really look like you could use a break."

Kazemaru spoke when they headed for practice in the riverbank.

Endou didn't manage to convince the Rairaiken boss, Hibiki Seigou, to become the coach so they decided to get practicing outside of school the next day.

They end up spending a whole night with little sleep thinking of team formations for possible Hissatsu Tactics.

Praise coffee for keeping them awake. Yay.

"Spent a whole night?"

They nodded.

"...Did you drink coffee?"

"...Yes."

"Without sugar?"

"...Yes?"

Kazemaru grins and shouted. "Handa! I win the bet! They really _did_ drink coffee without sugar!"

Said player groaned. "I thought they had limits to how much they hated sugar."

"...What is going on?" Tsubaki decided to ask.

Kino took that moment to explain. "The rest of the team were jokingly betting about whether or not the two of you drink coffee without sugar since you hate sweets."

...What.

"...Is anyone losing their money?"

"No one is losing their money. It wasn't a serious bet to start with." Gouenji answered for his sister.

He then asked with the most incredulous tone he and Tsubaki ever heard from the flame striker. "Do you really _hate_ sweets that much to not put sugar in coffee?"

"Yes." They answered resolutely.

"...Alright then."

Gouenji kept quiet after that.

They've gotten used to being around Gouenji at this point but they still had times where their fear of fire took over and went quiet while talking to Gouenji.

They are growing accustomed to Gouenji's  **Fire Tornado**  to not dissociate it as that large destructive wave of flames... but they still have a long way to go. They still find themselves dissociating and get reminded of that destructive large fire that doesn't seem like it'll stop burning everything that is nearby or inside it.

But they're slowly getting better.

Even with exposure therapy, they still had a hard time getting used to it.

"Oh yeah, what were you both planning for you guys to pull an all-nighter Miwa, Maehara?" Someoka questioned.

"We'll talk about it when we get to the field."

***

After Kidou's little visit, they drilled the team about Hissatsu Tactics and are asking for second opinions about Hissatsu Tactics they could develop as a team.

Practice went as usual after that.

(They had a very well deserved sleep that day after practice.)

***

Raimon practiced at the soccerfield near the riverbank until two days before the match with Teikoku.

Endou opened the door and brought an old man wearing sunglasses and a scar at his eye, Hibiki-san from Rairaiken.

"We got a coach!" Endou declared to the whole club.

The rest of the team responded with cheers and greeted the old man.

Akito and Tsubaki stood at the side. He turned to Tsubaki. "Shall we?"

Tsubaki nodded.

Akito and his sister then walked towards Natsumi.

"Natsumi-san, do you mind changing our membership as permanent?"

Natsumi slightly tilted her head to the side as she wondered. "I wouldn't mind but... what brought this on?"

"Oh!" Kino exclaimed. "The deal!"

Kino then called for the team, who were still surrounding Endou and Hibiki. "Guys! We completed the deal! Miwa-kun and Tsubaki-chan are going to be permanent members!"

There was a moment of silence and the next thing they know is that Endou decided to pull them in for a hug.

"Welcome aboard, Miwa! Maehara!"

Akito felt himself smiling. And saw that his sister did the same.

They may not be with their old friends right now, but that doesn't mean that they can't have a new group of friends to care for.

***

Hibiki Seigou watches as some of the members dogpile on Endou and the twins with ivory hair.

The twins are a familiar face in Rairaiken together with the initial three members of Raimon's soccer club.

And subsequently, he heard from the inspector, Onigawara that the twins helped Raimon to get a tie against the undefeatable Teikoku.

Color him impressed.

He often listened in to the team talking about what to practice even with their limited members but he didn't think that they'll succeed.

But nevertheless, Hibiki Seigou will neutrally judge the twins.

There's two days left before Teikoku's match.

He'll see how training goes.

He needs to see how the team does in person than to listen or learn about their prowess second hand.

 

 

 

***

_"And now we're on our re-match against Teikoku Academy."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is named after Deemo's Run Lads Run.  
> For a little timeline: Inazuma Eleven starts in May and now we are at late May for the Football Frontier.  
> I didn't want to make a canon rehash so if things happen as canon dictated, it's glossed over.  
> Also, yes, it's pretty overkill of me to do that to Fuyukai but look, just like in real life, people are different. And this is Akito and Tsubaki's reaction if they found out that it almost happen to them. Fuyukai just so happen to press that "Make me angry" button.  
> See you next time!  
> Edit: In spirit of Anime product naming, Pizza Camp is Pizza Hut.


End file.
